


The Hero‘s Light

by ElizaLeRoy



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Attack on Hyrule, Attempted Kidnapping, Broken timeline, Disguise, Family, Flirting, Friendship, Ganondorf's not dead, Hero of Time, Kidnapping, Major Character Injury, Memory Loss, Monsters, Platonic Cuddling, Platonic Love, Post-Majora's Mask, Post-Ocarina of Time, Young Time, pre-War scenario
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-19
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-09 17:48:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 25,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27630253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElizaLeRoy/pseuds/ElizaLeRoy
Summary: After an unplanned change of Hyrules in their sleep, the Links find themselves in a another Hyrule.Not only are they confronted with a coming war, but they lack one member who happened to be their leader. So now they don't just have to help Hyrule with another war started by Ganondorf, but also their missing friend.But, even if they find him, do they really want to face the consequences of possibly Breaking the timeline? And who said that he wants to return?
Relationships: Four & Hyrule & Legend & Sky & Time & Twilight & Warriors & Wild & Wind (Linked Universe), Four & Time (Linked Universe), Ganondorf/Link (Legend of Zelda), Hyrule & Time (Linked Universe), Legend & Time (Linked Universe), Link/Ruto (Legend of Zelda), Link/Zelda (Legend of Zelda), Malon (Legend of Zelda)/Time (Linked Universe), Time & Twilight (Linked Universe), Time & Warriors (Linked Universe), Time & Wild (Linked Universe), Time & Wind (Linked Universe), Time (Linked Universe) & Original Character(s), Time/Twilight/Wild (Linked Universe), Twilight & Warriors (Linked Universe)
Comments: 15
Kudos: 15





	1. Hyrule jump

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not a native speaker, so if you find any mistakes: I'm sorry. I do my best not to make mistakes.

„Alright everyone. Pack your things, we have wasted enough time.", ordered Warriors. 

Sometimes he seemed to forget they weren't his soldiers who would listen to everything the Hero commanded. Well, maybe he didn't need to remember this, because at least the younger Links obeyed without really thinking about it, before they realised they didn't want to listen to Warriors. The thought made Twilight chuckle which earned him a few curious looks from the others. But he ignored it and got up to pack all his stuff. Warriors was right. They needed to move. 

Since they arrived in Warriors Hyrule one week ago they have been attacked almost everyday. In case of another attack they shouldn't rest on a cliff while watching a River. It was too risky. Therefore Twillight grabbed his Sword and his cloak and walked up to his mentor Standing in the shadow of a tall tree. 

„You okay?", he asked. 

Time nodded. "Yeah...just didn't get That much sleep."

"Full Moon?"

„I think so, yes... I don't know. I thought I would get over it sooner or later. Looks like I get over it later."

„Well. You better do. Full Moon is my thing..." 

Silence. Time raised an eyebrow.

"Wolf thing?! Howling at the Moon..", Twilight explained. He earned a soft slap on the back of his head. And a chuckle.

"I'm too old for your jokes." 

„Wild's are worse..."

„I know. I know." Time shook his head. "Anyway... Warriors is right. We have to keep moving. These monsters could attack every second.“

—————————-  
“Where are we going?" Twilight turned around to give Four a stern look. Why in Hylia's name were they complaining all day? They haven't been on the Road for more than two hours and Wind already claimed to be tired, Hyrule was thirsty, Four wanted to know were they were going and Wild just gave everyone an annoyed look while he walked slowly behind everyone else.

„We go to the next village to buy new food, potions, and everything else we need."

„Why can't we just go fishing?", Wild wanted to know. 

Twilight sighted „We ate fish for the Last 2 days. I need something else. Like."

„Meat? Vegetables? Village food?" Wild asked. Twilight nodded

"Yeah... somehing like that."

"Well... technically you could hunt for us..."

"Don't even start.", Twilight interrupted him harshly, looking annoyed at his protétgé. He was not sure whether the other Links beside Time hnew of his ability to turn into a wolf. And if they didn't, he preferred to keep it that way. That would just mean unnecessary discussions and missions for him. And he definetly had better things to do than listening to wolf-jokes all the time. Wild's teasing was more than enough. He kept walking. Wild seemed to notice him being upset, because he walked faster until he was right next to Twilight. 

"That was a joke. I didn't mean to upset you. I would never..." 

"It is alright." Twilight forced a smile. "Really. I'm just... exhausted from all the attacks and late sleeping."

„We all are. That is, was Legend is saying."

"Yeah, I know... but we have no choice. Our supplies run out quickly. We need new supllies. And food." 

Wild was quiet for a moment. Then he asked. "I saw you talking to Time this morning... He is more quiet then usual. Is he alright?"

"Yes... he will be." Twilight nodded and smiled. "He is tired, like all of us. He didn't sleep well this night. Perhaps, after a short rest, he will be his usual, fatherly-self."

"I hope so. Warrior sucks as a leader."

"Wild..." Twilight interrupted him. "Really... he does the best he can."

"If Time led us, we would run endlessly through a damn forest."

"Well, this is Warrior's Hyriule. He knows the way better than all of us."

"I hope you are right.", Wild answered, before he stopped talking and concetrated on walking. Twilight did the same.  
—————-

They walked and walked, but they came nowhere near a village. "See?" Wild shook his head. "Here is nothing. Like... nothing... literally. Just some stupid trees."

"We are in a forest. Of course there are trees." Warriors shook his head. "I'm sure, we are on the right way."

"I'm sure we have been here before.", Legend disagreed. 

Twilight was tempted to say that trees in a forest normally looked like eacht other but he didn't want wo start another discussion about trees. So he stayed quiet and listened to Warriors' and Legend's disagreement about Warriors finding the right way to lead them to the village.

"If we stayed on the road, we would not be lost in a forest.", Legend complained. Warriors sighted. 

"This IS the road to the village. It's not a deep forest. More... a road with a few trees on each side." 

"If it is a road, then were are the signs, leading to the village? Or... Castletown?", Hyrule wanted to know. 

Finally, Time stepped in to helf Warriors. "Okay...everyone listen up. We travelled a long way the last two days. This is why we were in the middle of nowhere this morning. And right now, we ware working on leaving the middle of nowhere, to find some more civilisation. Endless complaining is not going to help us move faster."

His announcemnt made everyone stop complaining about their current situation. At least for a time. Twilight could still hear some of the younger Links qietly complaining, but at least they didn't critizise Warriors or anyone else to the extend of delaying them.  
———-  
Eventually, Sky stopped walking, earning a few confused looks. "Ehm... you guys think we could rest here? For... a few minutes? We are all a bit tired I think, and... if we reach the village one hour earlier oder later doesn't make a difference, right?"

Time and Warriors changed a look. "Yes, please.", Wind pleaded. "I'm tired."

"Me too.", Wild and Hyrule exclaimed. 

"Fine." Warriors sighted. "I think a bit of rest won't hurt anyone. But let's move away from the road."

Twilight thought someone would bring up again that this was a forest and not exactly a road, but the prospect of rest or sleep made them all too content to argue. therefore they went deeper into the woods and found a nice place to lay down.

"You guys rest.", Time proclaimed. "I will stay awake and take care that nothing happens."

"But you need sleep too.", Twilight replied worried. 

Time shook his head. "Not necessarily now. I will sleep, once we are at our destination. We made this stop for you."

Twilight couldn't argue with that logic, but he felt bad that Time had to stay awake. On the other hand, discussing that now would lead to the other Heroes and Twilight himself finding no sleep and therefore this whole break would be unnecessary. 

So Twilight nodded. "If you are okay with that."

"I am." 

"Alright..." Twilight lay down and closed his eyes. Sleep came faster than he expected.  
\---------—  
"Twilight... wake up." Twilight felt someone pushing his shoulder. They probably needed to get back on the road. So he opened his eyes. Warriors sat next to him. He looked... confused. 

"What is wrong?"

"Time is gone."

Gone? Twilight looked aroung him. What happended? He found himself in a forest, that looked similar to Warriors forest, yet looked different. It was not as deep as the one before. Did they change Hyrules in their sleep? That didn't happen before.

"Where are we?" 

"I don't know. Probably a forest.", Warriors replied. "But we have another problem." 

"I know..." Twilight got up and packed his things.

"Maybe he just needed to relief himself?", Wild proposed. "He wouldn't leave us." 

"I was not saying that. Not by choice, anyway.. But.. it is weird. I mean, first we change Hyrules and then our leader just diappears. That is not normal."

Quiet. Until Sky said: "Well... what if he just didn't expect us to wake up so early, which is why je just wanted to find out where we are. Or he got tired and went for a walk."

It seemed like he didn't really believe himself, but didn't want anyone to notice. Twilight looked at Warriors.

"Well... we don't know where we are, so... we can wait if he shows up."

"Agreed." After waitung for quite a long time, they finally, and with a heavy heart, decided, that Time was not likely to show up here.

"Maybe he came out somewhere else. That happended once, if you remember.", Hyrule proclaimed.

"Yeah, but it took days to find us again. And then we were seperated in three groups, not eight of us and Time alone.", Warriors answered.

It was obvious he was worried. But before they could discuss how to go one from here, a group of men on horses arrived. They all wore the same sigil on their armor. The sigil of the royal family of Hyrule. So no danger. At least for now.

"Who are you?", one of the men wanted to know. Warriors smiled politely. 

"We are... travellers. My name is War... Link. As well als my companions names." 

"Link, huh...?" The men changed a look, before one nodded. "Alright. Her majesty, the Princess asked for Link to come see her. She has important business to discuss. Although she expected you to be somewhere else and not here."

Zelda wanted to see one of them? Did she know, they were here? Twilight was very confused, but a audience with Zelda was not the most frightening thing they had faced. And it gave them the oppotunity to learn, where they were and where they would find Time. Zelda could definitly help them.


	2. Zelda's Quest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Links meet Time's Zelda and explain their situation, before the princess asks the heroes for their help, which leads them to Kakriko village

"Princess... we found the boy named Link... or... the boys..." The guard bowed before the Princess, as he spoke. 

This Zelda remembered Warriors a bit of his own Zelda. Yet she looked less like the warrior princess his Zelda was, but more like a princess that spends most of her time in a castle, learning languages, dancing, etiquette and diplomacy. She smiled and signed the guard to raise. "Thank you... I will speak with them alone." 

After they left, Zelda looked at them. She seemed curious. Her eyes rested a while on Warrios. Then she smiled.   
"Please forgive me." She made a few steps towards him. "But you remember me of a dear friend of mine, I was looking for. But something tells me it is not you." 

"Well... I'm not sure.", Warriors answered. "But I'm afraid not. Unless you knew we were coming." 

"I hate to disappoint you." She sighted. "Althoug I had a dream last night. It sounds crazy, I know, but... I feel like I saw you coming." 

"A dream?" 

"Yes. I have them sometimes. Since I have been a young girl. And I am never wrong." 

Zelda nodded in the direction, telling them to follow her to a window. From this window, Warriors could see into the throne room of the king. "One day I dreamed of a young boy in a green tunic to come to me, carrying a green jewel with him. The next day, the boy from my dreams stood before me." 

That sounded a lot like the story Time used to tell when asked how he met the princess. Were they in his Hyrule?   
"Well... another dream I had was about the man swearing his loyalty to my father the same day. But I was sure, that he planned evil, and so it was. And that boy, Link was his name, was able to confirm my foresight. Thanks to him, we could prevent more evil things to happen. And it is this boy I was looking for." 

She sightet. "But... why don't you tell me, what you are doing here."

————————————————————-

After explaining to Time's Zelda, how they landed in her country and who they are, she was quiet for a moment. 

"I understand...", she said. "It seems like we are both looking for the same boy... or... at least in a way. The part of him defeating Ganondorf an finding the Sages is something I don't remember. But it would explain a lot of things. For example why I thought I knew him when I first met him. Besides my dream, of course. Nevertheless, I'm even more proud of him. And... in a way angry at myself... doing this was cruel... To do such a great deed, yet to be forgotten and send back into a childs body... after all this time. It explains, why he always seemed so mature."

Warriors nodded. But as he wanted to say something, Wild escaped a weird noise, as he saw a woman, clothed in the robes of a Sheika, enter. Impa. Warriors looked at Wild, slightly annoyed. He was not with his own Zelda somewhere out in the valleys of his Hyrule, but with princess Zelda at the royal court. 

"Impa.", Zelda greeted the woman. "This is...are the Links." 

"Links? There is more than one?" 

"Yes... we are all called Link.", Twilight explained. 

Zelda smiled. "I'll explain it to you later." 

Impa nodded, before whispering something into Zeldas ear, wich made the Princess look worried for a moment. 

"Thank you.", Zelda then said. "I trust you with all the necessary actions." 

Impa nodded again, before leaving. Zelda politely smiled again. 

"Dear Links, I have a request for you, if you are willing." 

"Of course, Princess.", Twilight answered. "What can we do?" 

"I'm sure, you are in a hurry to find our mutual friend. But if you happen to cross Kakariko village, would you please do me the favor and tell the Genral living there that his King and his princess urge him to come to the castle immediatly. And give the Captain of the guard this letter. It includes all neccessary informations he needs to be prepared." She sighted. "You arrive in the worst possible time to explore this usually so beautiful and peaceful Hyrule." 

"We would be delighted to help you.", Warriors answered, earning an annoyed look from almost every other Hero in the room. But he just wanted to be polite and respectful. 

But Zelda only kept smiling "I cannot thank you enough." 

Twilight cleared his throat. "Eh... forgive me the question, but... our friednd.... do you knwo where he could be?" 

"I'm afraid not. This is why I send a few guards to look for him. One day I recieved a letter from him, telling me he was fine and the next day, he simply just... disappeared. I would send more guards, but right now, we are faced with great danger and I cannot waste more men on a mission that does not contribute necessarily to our victory. Link can help us, I'm sure, but whatever he does now, it probably is important and he can take care of himself. And I know he will return one day." 

That was not really helpful. 

"You know where to find Kakariko village?"Zelda asked.

Twilight made a movement with his head. "Not... exaktly. But I hope there are signs to help us." 

"There are. But I can describe it to you.", Zelda offered and got herself a map. "After leaving castle town, you turn north-west. There you will see a big mountain. That is the death mountain. You walk towards the mountain, cross a river and then you will already see the direct way up to Kakariko village." 

"Thank you, princess." Warriors bowed his head " We best be on our way now to find our mutual friend. And the General and head of the guard of course." 

"I understand. Thank you and may the odds be with you all." With a smile, Zelda waved them goodbye, as they left.

———————————————

"Did you really have to flirt with her all the time?", Legend wanted to know with a tormented facial expression. "She is the Princess of the Hyrule of our friend." 

"I was not flirting, I was being polite.", Warriors corrected. "Just because I didn't demonstrate her how we are sometimes forced to eat while being out on a mission doesn't mean that I try to impress her oder flirt. I grow up at a... "

"Yeah... at court, togehter with Princess Zelda, you are her chosen Hero and Captain who already saves her life.", Wild interrupted. "But still. You gave her the stare." 

"The "stare"?", Warriors asked confused. 

Wild nodded. "Yeah... like... I don't know. The way you look at a lot of women you think are attractive." 

"So you ask of me to deny that Zelda is a beautiful woman?" 

"She is not a "woman", she ist the Princess.", Wild argued. "And not your Princess." 

He was right, Warriors admitted. She was no one he could simply hit on. Especially, since Time was the Hero of this era, and not even he ever did something like that. Although, he had to admitt that Time was emotionally 10, when he had the chance to start something serious with her. And children didn't think like that. But this Zelda resembled his Zelda so much. Her face was a bit different, but the way she acted and spoke was so much like his own. Times Zelda was possibly a bit more sophisticated and didn't show her abilites in combat so openly as his own Zelda did, but the way Time had always described his adventures, both Zeldas were trained in the art of Sheikas and took the form of Sheik at one point of the adventure. So of course he thought of his friend, when looking at Time's Zelda.

"Yeah... I know...", he admitted. "But... she.... resembled my Zelda."

"And you obviously resemble her Hero, if I unterstood her correctly.", Sky said smiling. "Obviously the Time looked like you in his youth." 

This brought them to the metaphorical elephant in the room. Time. "You think we find him?", Twilight wanted to know. 

"We have to.", Sky replied. "He is our friend."

"Yes... but we don't know anything about this world."

"I do." Warriors sighted. "During my mission, I needed to be in this Hyrule for a time. So... I know a little bit about it. But not enough to guide you savely through this world."

"Well... That is hopefully not necessary...", Twilight replied. "Let's just find this General, send him to Zelda, give her letter to the head of the guard and then be on our way to find Time."

"You think it will be that easy? I mean, he could be anywhere." Wind seemed to have doubts. 

Warriors could completly understand that. He was worried, too. But if he learned one thing from his time as Hero, then it was the fact that a leader should never tremble. A leader was supposed to raise the spirits of his group and be a couragous example. If he trembled, there was no reason for any soldier to head to battle. Time knew that all along, and so did he. Therefore he gave his friends an encouraging smile.

"I know. But the way I know our old man, he won't rest until he found us... He still got this habit of trying to protect us..."   
His words seemed to have the effect Warriors hoped they'd have. The other Links followed him as he walked the way up the mountains to Kakariko village.  
\-------------------------  
As they reached the village, the sun had already set. But there were still a few people on the streets. 

"Alright..." Warriors looked around. "Twilight, you take Wild and Wind with you and you look for the General. Sky, you come with me to deliever the letter. Legend, Hyrule, Four, you go find an Inn to stay overnight. We'll be meeting here." 

"Why do you get to give orders now?", Wind complained, but got shushed by Wild. 

"One has to. And I'm not letting one of you give orders.", Warriors explained. "Plus, do you have a better idea than mine?" 

"No.." "Well, then... off you go." Warriors shook his head. "Well. Sky?" "Yes, let's go."   
\---  
After looking around, they learned that the captain of the guard already went home after a long day and wouldn't be in his office until 9 a.m the next morning. But at least one of the remaining guards would tell his supervisor of their visit. Disappointed, Warriors and Sky left the headquartes and went back to the entrance. 

"Hopefully, the others are luckier.", Sky said. 

"I hope so, too." Warriors sighted. "Zelda sounded like it was urgent." 

Four already was at the entrance. "We got a few rooms at the Inn. Three."

"Fantastic. At least some good news." 

A few minutes later, Twilight, Wild and Wind returned. 

"The General is still on a quest and won't return befor tomorrow evening.", Wild answered to their asked questions." 

Warriors shook his head. So the only thing they managed to get were a few rooms at the Inn? Not the worst thing, but definitely not a highlight of their journey. 

"Alright, everybody. It has been a long day. I propose, we just go in and try to get some sleep." Twilight pointed in the direction of the center of the village. "Four, lead the way."

The owner of the Inn was a friendly, almost motherly middle-aged woman. She gave them free dinner, telling them it was nothing new that travellers arrived in the evening, being hungry. Plus, she liked to cook and so why not give all her guest a warm meal in the evening. Then she told them how the land had bloomed since Ganondorf got banished, how Kakariko village grew from a small poor village to a comfortable little town with a mayor, enough guards to protect them in case of an attack and a blooming trade. She seemed very prouf of her town. After she went of to take care of other guests, 

Warriors looked at his friends. "So... how are we going to go on. How long do we stay?" 

Silence.

Until Sky meant: "I can be wrong, but firstly, we have to deliver a few things here, and second, if we want to find Time or want him to find us, wouldn't it be smart to... you know, not change places all the time? We can ask around if someone has seen or heard from him but stay here overnight."

"He is right.", Warriors agreed. "If we really are facing an attack or whatever, it is better to stay in a place where we have guards to take at least a bit of work from our shoulders. This way, a few of us can stay here during the day and the others can look around." 

No one seemed to have another opnion, so it was settled. After planning the following day, all of the Heroes went to their rooms. Wild and Twilight in one, Legend, Hyrule and Four in one and Warriors with Sky and Wind.   
Get to sleep in a "normal" bed was a praise after their long journey and Warriors realised, how tired he had been, after all the events of the day.


	3. Meeting Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Twilight and Warriors deliver the letter and discuss matters of leading skills.

The next morning came sooner than expected, But it could also been Wild's fault who decided to make noise by sunset. What was he? A bird?! "Wild... keep it down, will you?", Twilight grumbled, before turning to the other side with an annoyed sigh. Wild snorted loudly. "I'm bored."

"Than explore the village. You were the one to complain yesterday about being tired. It's hardly sunset." 

"So? The earlier we finish Zeldas quest, the sooner we get to find Time. We really need an adult who does not constantly flirt with every woman in every Hyrule." 

"Maybe Time would flirt with Zelda."

"Well, in that case I would survive it, keeping in mind that she is his Zelda. You may flirt with your Zelda, but he flirts with everyone." 

Thwilight shook his head. "What is it with you all saying he is a bad leader? He's done that before."

"Yeah... I know. But Time's a better leader. Less... distracted. And he is older and more mature."

"So Warriors is too immature?"

"Not exactly... but... he definetly could use some training in how to behave like a responsible adult."

"Because you are the defintion aof being an adult and mature. Wild, you are not even able to stay in your bed because of the sun or leave the room quiet enough not to wake everyone else. Little children do that. So... this coming from you doesn't mean anything."   
"You are mean, Wolf-Boy. Plus, it is not just my opinion, but everyone else's. You and Sky are the only ones who still defend him. The rest of us wants Time as leader back " 

"And you are annoying, Wild-Boy. Let me sleep. Some of us need to regain their strength. Then we can talk about leading-questions." Wild gave an incomprehensible answer, bevor falling back into bed, letting Twilight sleep.

After Twilight woke up, he realised, that Wild was gone, but with a look out of the window, Twilight saw him talking to Sky and Hyrule in front of the Inn. So he really just left the room to let him sleep. Twilight joined them, as well as the other Links, as soon as they were awake. "Good, group leader.", Wind mocked. "What are we doing now?" 

Warriors ignored his mockery. "I don't know. Some of us need to get supplies, and ingredients for potions. And the other ones can start to ask for our friend."

"And you?"  
"I will bring this letter to the captain of the guard."

"I'm coming with you.", Twilight offered. "Just... in case." To be honest, he wanted to speak with Warriors about the things Wild said in the morning. He knew, his friend was doing his best to keep them together and alive, but he also saw Wild's side. And he wanted to speak with him about it before it ended in chaos. 

"In case?" Warriors raised an eyebrow, but then simply agreed. "Alright... any other wishes? Wild?"

"I wondered what I am supposed to to?" 

"That depends on what you prefer to do. You may come with us, or you do something else." "If it is okay, I would explore the village and the places around... Time used to be close with Gorons, so maybe they know, where he is."

"Good idea."   
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Do you think it was wrong, to give them such loose orders?", Warriors asked.   
Twilight shook his head. "No... they all know what they're supposed to do. We all want to find him. And have food and supplies, of course."

"Yes... I didn't mean that. I just thought... help them find groups. I don't want any of them to go alone."

"They take take of themselves. Even Wind defeated Ganondorf..."

"Yes, but he knew..." 

"Warriors..." Twilight stopped walking. "Listen to me. Please. I know you are worried about us all and you have any right. But... I don't know why they tend to say that behind your back but... a few of the others seem to have a problem with the way you... lead them... or us... And I thought you should know that before we have to have this discussion with the group in a... let's say bad time for it." 

Twilight really expected Warriors to snap and say something mean, be defensive or something else, as he was the last time he was their leader. What Twilight had understood. Warriors used to be a respected Captain at Zelda's Army and hertrusted Hero. No one ever dared to question him or his leading skills. But this was not the army, but a few Links with their own heroics and stories. But Warriors stayed unexpectedly calm. He seemed upset, but it was fine. 

"Let me guess. It were the younger ones?" 

"I don't think that this is relevant.", Twilight corrected. "The point is... I'm okay with you being the leader. It is a thankless job, I know that. And it is hard. But someone has to do it. The thing I want from you is to try to understand us. A few of us, despite their adventures, still lack maturity. And the reason why they loved Time so much is because he knew that and he let them discover their mistakes on their own." 

"Fair enough, but I don't know why it would benefit us, if we have to slow down, because Wild and Hyrule think it is a brilliant idea to surf down stairs with their shields. Or if Wind is excited because of a maze but fails to find the exit."

"Yeah, but that's the point. Time would be strict, and as long as their not deadly wounded, he tells him that it is their fault, tells a story from his adventures and uses this as a reason why they can still walk, as long as their legs aren't broken. You still... care to much and think you are responsible for them. I don't want that."

"So... you want me to stay out of their business?", Warriors asked. Twilight sighted.

"Yeah... not completly. You can still care and give them orders but... I think you should stop treating them like children their age. They saved Hyrule from destruction, not their little sister from an angry cow..."

He earned a confused look, but finally, Warriors nodded. "Fine... I try to stay out of their business. Unless they do complete nonsense." "Then you have to stop them, I agree."

\--------------------------------------------------------------

As promised, the captain of the guard was already there. "Are... the young men my assistant told me about. Sorry for not being here yesterday... sick daughter, you understand..."

"Of course. Eventuylly, it made no real difference.", Warriors said and stepped forward, giving him the letter. The captain of the guard looked at him, a bit confused, before taking the letter. 

"Thank you..." He opened it. Immediatly, his face turned dark. 

"Just as we feared. Carlos!" His assistant came in.

"Yes?" 

"Tell all the guards to double their watch and get all the missing members back. Send letters to every available guard.Close every entrance beside the main entrance and the gate leading to death mountain." "Of course." His assistant disappeared.

'I apologize for the rush...", the captain of the guard apologized. "But you arrive in difficult times. Yet... as Zeldas envoys, you probably already know." 

"I'm afraid she didn't give us all the details, but it is pretty clear we are facing another attack.", Twilight explained. The captain of the guard sighted.

"She didn't give me more information either, but it's all I need to know. We are preparing for an attack, that's all I know and need to know."

"I ennvy your pragmatism.", Warriors admitted. 

"I hope all the events turn in your favor."   
Now he was back to be the military man Twilight knew him to be.   
"If you need any help, my travelling companions and me, wo would be willing to help"

Twilight didn't say anything to that. He just hoped, that the others thought of it this way, too. Otherwise, this would soom be a mess. On the other hand, maybe that was the reason, why they changed Hyrules so quickly. Because this land and this timeline needed their help. But, why them? And, when exactly did these events take place? After Zelde send Time back to his original time? In the timeline after majoras mask? But, they were not there to help. At least Time never metioned the arrival of 8 foreign boys. To be honest with himself, Twilight was confused. But he kept smiling, so he wouldn't worry anyone.

While Warriors and the captain of the guard talked about war and strategies, Twilight scanned the room. A few medals, one or two picutes, a signed paper with the signing of the king of Hyrule. Nothing spectacular, but certainly impressive. And pretty. Twilight was about to ask Warriors, if they could go, so they could grab something to eat, as his stomach made sounds Twilight didn't know it could physically do, as they heard hasty steps in the hallway and a boy knocked on the door, before entering. He looked a little bit like Warriors with his golden hair and the deep blue eyes. But his face was a bit different. And he had his hair styled differently. In any case, it was wet. The captain looked at him. 

"Ah... there you are. Overslept already?" 

The boy nodded silently. The captain smiled.

"Carlos told you to come, I suppose."

Again, a nodd. 

"Great. Everyone, this is my adopted son, Link. Link, those young men are envoys of princess Zelda. She gave the order to close all gates, as we are facing an attack." 

Link looked at them, then forcing himself to smile. He had to be Twilights Age, maybe a bit younger. But at least he wasn't a Teenager like Wild or Legend. Twilight and Warriors also smiled, while they wre exchanging looks. If this boys name was also Link, there were two options. Or, three. The first option was, that this boy was another Link, born to be a Hero, so this was a complete different Link and they were here to assist him. The second option was, that the name "Link" just got famous, for any possible reason, and the third option was, that this boy was Time. Before he became the Hero's Shade. Or he just turned young.   
"Link... looks like these two are starving. Why don't you guide them to our break room and get our guest something to eat."

"Yes." 

It was the first time, Link, or possibly Time, spoke. He signed them to follow him.

"So... Link..." Warriors started the conversation, looking at the boy. "You live here?" 

Silence. 

Then Link nodded. "Yes... at least for now..."

"Well... if the captain is your father, you better stay here..."

"It is... different... and more difficult.", Linkd blushed.

"So... what are you doing here? Do envoys normally don't go back to the royal family?" 

"Oh we are..." Twilight started, but then just decided to ask. "you don't know, who we are, do you?" 

Link looked at them both. 

"Sheika?" He obviously had no idea. And Twilight had hoped, Time just got younger and acted up.


	4. Kakariko Village

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wild visits the Gorons to look for Time, while Sky and Wind explore the village to look for their friend.

"Hey, uhm... I'm sorry..." Wild knelt next to a Goron who leand agains a big big stone, next to the entrance of a cave. "Can you help me?" 

"If you tell me, how, I can try.", the Goron answered. 

Wild smiled hopefully. "I'm looking for a man. Tall, blonde hair, weird paintings on his face, a scar over his eye, probably wears armor... his name is Link."

"Link, huh..." The Goron laughed. "That seems to be a name that is quite often these days... The patriarch of our tribe, Darunia called his lad Link, too, you know..."

"Really? That is... great." Wild smiled. "Well... it obviously is a common name. My name is Link, too."

"Wow... you have a friend called Link and you also have that name?" 

Wild was tempted to explain to him, that there were more boys called Link, but he didn't do it. there was no need to confuse this poor Goron even more. "Sort of...yeah. So... why did Darunia call his own son Link?"

"Oh... that is... fasciniating story... When Dodongo's cave...", he pointed to the cave behind him, "was closed, this boy arrived, and helped us with it. Actually, our debt was payed, when Darunia gave him the ruby of the Gorons, but since the boy arrived a few days later, returning the stone, telling us, he no longer needed them, Darunia thought it would be appropriate to thank him by passing on his name to his descendant." 

"Sounds... generous.", Wild stuttered, unsure what to say. Time returned the stones back to those, who they actually belonged to, after he had no more use for them? Sounded like the righteous old man he knew. Always so honorable Why didn't he keep them, if they were given to him freely?

"Maybe Darunia can help you with your search. He knows of everything that s giong on in Goronia."

"Why not..." 

Wild followed the Goron all the way up to an entrance, made of stone. Inside of the city, there were several torches burning and some groovy, yet relaxing music was playing. A few Gorons were sitting together, eating stone. Other were casually rolling around. At the ground floor of the citiy was a soft carped, painted with the sign of the royal family. From there, a lighted corridor led him to a great room, with one Goron standing inside. He was bigger and diffenrent from all the other Gorons. And next to him a smaller Goron.

"Darunia, this is Link... he is looking for a friend."

"Not my brother, Link.", Darunia greeted friendly, before bursting out with laughter. "You should see him. A handsome young boy he is... and a fierce warrior...Same as my son." 

The pointed to the smaller Goron.

"He is also called Link."

"Pleased to meet you." Wild smiled. "Listen, I do not inted to be rude, but I'm a bit in a hurry. I need to be in Kakariko village this evening before the gates close."

"Alright. then let's get to the point." Darunia nodded. "You look for a friend, I hear."

"Yes... his name is Link. He is a grown up man, a scar over his one eye, probably wearing armor, blonde hair, paintings on his face..." 

"Well... There a many boys looking like that. But none of them had either a painting on his face, nor a scar in that place. I'm sorry. But why do you think, he could be here?"

"I don't know. My friends and I, we are looking everywhere now."

"Maybe he got lost in the lost woods. Happens to a lot of Hylians these days." Darunia sighted. "Anyway, as much as I regret it, I can't help you. But we Gorons are a guest loving tribe. If you or any of your friends need a place to stay, feel free to come. And if I meet the man you are looking for, I will tell him, that you were here." 

"Thank you."  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------  
"So, no one knows anything? Are you sure?", Sky asked Wind, who just left the shop.

"No one in this whole damn village has seen him.", Wind answered. "All they ask is, if a boy my age is all alone. I'm a..."

"Hero, I know.", Sky interruped. He would be very happy, if Wind could spare him his temper tantrum because someone called him young. Yes, it was annyoing, but it earned them unwanted attention."But they don't know that. And we have better thing to do than to explain our story."

"Yeah, I know... It's just... We never find'm. I swear... Told ya from the beginning we got pulled here in our sleep and 'cause he wasn't asleep, he's still in Warrior's Hyrule."

"Don't give up hope. Warriors suspects, we are in his Hyrule. So he will find his way out. And he knows us."

Twilight was way better at calming the others than he was. but at least Wind stopped complaining. 

"Yeah... you're probably right.. And as long as captain Warriors says, we are staying, we are staying."

"Oh come on, Wind. He is not that bad of a leader. You just have high standarts because of Time. But Warriors is alright als leader. Sometimes a little overbearing,but he means well."

"He is bossy." There was no way in discussing things with Wind. Sky just sighed.  
"Whatever you say."  
\------------------------------------------------------------

They walked around the village, watching a few children play with sticks, or a ball, or simply hide and seek. just games children usually played. If they met someone they could ask about Time, no matter if child, grown-up, construction worker, guard, they asked. But they always got more or less the same answer: "No... not here. No one who looks like that ever came here."

Disappointed Sky turned to Wind.

"Shall we leave the village and look in the fields of Hyrule?" "The fields of Hyrule are big. We will never find him in time."  
"Maybe he went to Lon Lon Ranch to visit Malon."  
"Why would he do that? It's not like... Hey...watch out!"

Wind suddenly pulled him aside, as a horse came running in their direction. The ride also pulled the horse to the side and made sure it stopped.  
"I'm sorry.", he called and climbed down from the horse. "I got lost in my thoughts. Are you okay?", he asked.

It was a young man with golden, wet hair and big blue eyes. He wore a simple Shirt and grey pants. 

"Yeah, thanks. We're good. Thanks to my attention of my surroundings.", Wind answered.

The boy nodded. "At least one of us was attentive." 

He took his horse by the reins and led it to a sort of stable. It took a moment for Sky and Wind to gather themselves.  
"Excuse me..." Sky ran to the boy. "We are looking for our friend." 

He described Time, but the boy shook his head, just like all the others.  
"I'm sorry... I haven't seen him. But I travel around a lot. If I see him, I'll tell him where he finds you."  
In the way he looked at them, the way he spoke and the tone of his voice, Sky thought he remembered him of Time. Just younger and without the markings and the scar. 

"Allow me, if I ask, but... Is your name Link?"

The boy looked at him, surprised. "Yes. Why?"  
"Oh I just had a thought..." 

"Oh... well.. What is your name?"  
"Also Link."  
"Oh..." The boy seemed confused. Then, he smiled regrretful.  
"I'm sorry, but I have somewhere to be..." He smiled awkwardly before he ran away. 

"What was your mission?", Wind wanted to know.  
"I wanted to know if he is Time and why he doesn't remember us."  
"Well... you were not very succesfull with that. But at least we can tell Warriors and the other that we might have found him."  
"We don't know if it was him.", Sky answered. "What ever timeline this is, someone might just know Time or heard his name and liked it." 

"You mean him riding Epona was not enough proof, that it was him."  
"Epona?", Sky asked confused. Wind nodded.  
"Yes. First of all, I recognize her, second, he just talked to her and called her "Epona." 

"Maybe that is is... son?" Sky didn't knew why he was trying to find excuses for the boy not to be Time. Perhaps it was easier to think that their friend just got lost than to know, that he was younger and didn't remember them.


	5. Their old young friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Links gather around to talk about the other Link they just met and Twilight gets to have a chat with him

Warriors didn't know how to start the conversation with the others. Twilight and him, they both came to the same conclusion about this Link. He could be just another new hero, or Time in young without real memories of them. Because him just being a random boy called Link was too much of a coincidence, and him being his younger self before meeting all of them would make no sense at all. But he decided to just get to the point sp he wouldn't waste anyones time. Twilight was possibly right. Right now, with a war possibly coming but not already being here, they migh got a chance of just be random boys with swords in a nice joyful village. And he wanted to give his group memebers the chance of living a few days without duty and war, if they had the chance now.

"Argh... boys... you won't believe, what happened today." 

Warriors threw his stuff into the corner of the room, before sitting on his bed. 

"So we gave the letter to the captain today, and suddenly this boy busted in."

"Let me guess.", Wind interrupted. "golden blonde hair, blue eyes, named Link. Looked a bit like you, warriors with his hair and eyes?" So they've seen him too?

"you saw him too?", Warriors asked. 

Wind nodded. "Yeah... we were in the area of the main entrance and this boy came riding in on a horse, almost ran us over." 

"I hoped he apologized."

"Well, of course. You knwo the old man. He would explain it to a tree if he broke its branch, if he is in the mood."

The old man? So they suspected it, too?

"Wait... wait. Hold on for a second." Legend raised his hand. "So you met Time or not?"

"We don't know for sure, to be honest,", Twilight explained. "There is this boy, probably around my age, looking a little bit like Time, but... well... he is young, no scar, no markings, not his armor, plus, he obviously has no idea who we are. Or he is a good actor. Oh, and die captain of the guard called him his "adopted son" ."

"Oh, dear... that is... crazy.", Four proclaimed. "Like... are you sure it is him?"

"No, as Twilight said before... We don't know. We just suspect it. He also could be a complete other Link and new Hero of Hyrule."

"Oh, fun. Another member.", Legend murmured sarcastically. 

Warriors sighted. "Well... however, we have no idea. The problem with this boy is: He is not very talkactice. Like... you ask him something, he answers. But... just with the necessary word. And he would never initiate a conversation."

"So... what are we doing now. We can't just stalk him." Wild said. "The thing is, I talked to the Gorons and... everything they told me about Link, who i think is the same one you guys talked about, sounded like the stoys Time told us about his adventures. The stones, dodongo's cave... like, he even gave them the stones back after he didn't need'em anymore. If that's not Time, I'll eat my tunic... literally."  
"Stop eating your clothes.", Twilight commanded.

He looked at Warriors. "So... what do we do now?" "Keep an eye on him, but don't... you know... stalk him. Let him live his life. Otherwise, we'll never find out the truth."

"I agree." Hyrule nodded. "We must not influence him." 

"Fine with me.", Legend answered. "As long as we don't have to try forcefully to bring him to remember us.." 

"Oh, we won't." 

Then Four raised his hand. "I hate to be the one that has to spoil the mood, but... what if he is just another Hero, or even just a random boy? Wild told me, that Darunia also called his son Link."

That was of course an option they needed to be aware of.  
"Well, in that case, we will see what we do. Right now we just observe him to find that out. But, honestly, I'm prepared for everything. Because both events would bring new challenges."  
\--------------------------------------------------------  
After they discussed how to get on from this, they all went seperate ways. Warriors and Sky decided to wait for the General to send him to Zelda, while all the other Links could just enjoy the rest of the day and evening in the village and got to do whatever they wanted. Obviously, his talk with Warriors helped at least a bit. He seemed more relaxed. And he galantly acted as if he didn't hear the stupid things Wind, Four and Legend planned to do. At least a bit of improvement, which hopefully led to the others respecting him as their leader, until they found Time.

As much as he liked to deny it, Twilight didn't like the situation. Just as Warriors said, they needed to be prepared for everything. This Link could be a completly different person, but also their missing friend who didn't remember them. And both things would have a bad influence on their dynamic as a group. Right now, the thought of having their mature leader back held the group together. But how long, if the Time they all knew was no longer there? What would that do to the group? Twilight shook his head to get rid of these thoughts. Right now, everything was still going somehow fine. They were alive, they did what Zelda asked them to do and they were safe for the moment. So he should not worry about the things that might happen in the future. He focused on the villagers, who didn't knew what horrors they might face in the next few weeks, dancing to music, provided by a group of men with their instruments. He watched Hyrule and Wind dance and having fun. At least the younger ones could still relax a bit.

When he heard footsteps behind him, he turned around, only to see Link, or young Time, standing behind him. The boy smiled apologetic. And turned around.  
"Wait...", Twilight called. Maybe he could initiate a conversation. "Can I ask you something." 

A nod.

"What are they celebrating?"  
"The harvest." Link came nearer. "We had a great one this year... so..."

"That's cool. Where I come from, we didn't really do that. Like... sometimes... but not like that."

"So where are you from?" 

Twilight could not just say that he was from Hyrule, but another timeline. So he answered. "From... a villa far away from here. It's called Ordon."

"Never heard it." 

"It is so small, no one knows it.", Twilight lied. 

Link nodded. "I see." 

Again , he seemed to leave, but Twilight added. "Link... are you the Link Zelda is looking for?"

"I don't know. Did she say that?" 

"Yes... She said she is looking for a boy named Link."  
"Huh... well...might be me. I'll go there and talk to her." "That is a good idea..."

They remained quiet for a few moments, before Link just sat next to him looking down on the crowd. 

"Those are your friends?"

Twilight looked at him, surprised that Time actually started a conversation.  
“Yes... the one with the blue Tunic and the ponytail. His name is Wild. And the one talking to the girl over there, that is Hyrule.."

"Hyrule? Interesting name." Time laughed. Then he asked. "I've never seen you in the palace."

"Oh, we don't work there. Actually, my friends and me, we met Zelda by accident and she asked us to a few thing for her. We actually looking for someone else."

"A grown-up man with a scar, paintings on his face, blonde hair and blue eyes?" 

"Yes... how do you..."

"A group of boys I saw you with asked me about him this morning when I was on my way to the captain."

"Your adopted father... I don't mean to be rude, but he just adopted you? Why?"

“Yes..." Link laughed. "It sounds more dramatic than it actually is. He says that in front of strangers, because he took me in when everything went in a different way then I hoped it would be and he is clearly worried about me, but... Well, he is not my father. Not my real one. But, it feels like that somedays." 

Link sighed. "He takes care of me and I knwo I can always come to him, when I want to, but...on the other hand he doesn't say anything if I just leave the village for a few weeks, as long as I still do my work. But he taught me a lot and whenever I'm here, he lets me train with the guards. So, there is no legal paper about an adoption, but everybody who lives here knows it is something like that and normally, strangers don't get to know the truth or don't ask."

"So... more of a mentor and a person you can can always come to and trust, when you need advice of a grown up?" "Yeah... sort of..."

"Isn't this the other boy who came to my father today.?" Link signed to Warriors who just went down the stairs to reach the celebration.

"Yeah... thats Warriors. Sort of our leader until our friend returns."

"You friend... why are young adults or teenagers friends with a complete grown-up man?"

"Well... He was...is like... our father... or... big brother. He basically takes care of us and what we do."

"I see. So not exactly a friend but a father-figure?" "Yes..." Twilight nodded.

That summoned their relationship with Time pretty good. He hoped it might awake some memories in Link, if he really happened to be Time without his age or memories. But the boy seemed completly unbothered. 

"The girls seem to find you friend Warriors quite attractive." , Link said, pointing to Warriors who seemed to flirt again with a redhead around his age, as they were watched by other girls. At least, this time it was not Zelda.

"Yeah... I don't know if he intents on flirting with them or if his manners just say that, but he is quite the ladiesman", Twilight admitted. 

Link laughed. "Well... I assume he is a handsome young man. And he seems to know a thing or two about military, strategies and... the world. Which must seem pretty attractive to a girl who only sees the same village all her life. But I never asumed that Malon would be fascinated by that."

Malon?! This girl was Malon? Time's wife? "Malon?", he asked. 

Link nodded. "Yes. A good friend of mine. The peolpe here certainly told you about Lon Lon Farm. She is the daughter of the owner, Talon. Impressive girl..." He laughed. "The first time I met her and her father, it was clear who wears the pants in the family."

“Let me guess, it is not the father?"  
"Certainly not." Link laughed, "Normally I would be worried about her getting her heart broken, but.. let's be honest. She can take care of herself."

Two things about this made Twilight worry again. First of all, the fact that Warriors clearly flirted with Malon who seemed quite happy about his advances, and second the lack of jealousy in Links voice, if he really was Time. That would mean that he clearly didn't remember.

They conversation died. At least for a while. Twilight watched his friends dance around the brightly lighted place and Linked watched the sky. "Do you have siblings? Adopted siblings..", Twilight askes, just to say anything. Time nodded. "In a way. The captain has a daughter. Very cute. I'm very fond of her. And... that is a bit complicated. Do you know Kokiri forest?" "Yes." "I grew up there. My mother died during a war and left me in the care of the great Deku tree. Therefore I grew up with a bunch of ever-young Kokiris." "Why did you move here then? Didnt you like it there?" "Yes... I did. But after a time... I spare you all the details but I lost someone very dear to me and this place remembered me of her. Plus, it would've been a bit awkward after a while, don't you think? I mean, I visit them quite often, don't worry. They are in a way my family and the ones I grew up with. But... I live here now. At least most of the time." Twilight knew that Link probably spoke of Navi, his fairy. Time always suffered under her loss. But saying that would lead to a conversation he should not have with Link. First, because it was something private, and second, because he probably still didn't knew, who he was. "Yes... I need to go home too. At least for a time.", he just answered then. "I miss them a bit." "Of course."

As they sat next to each other, Link talked a bit about the village and the new buildings. And he seemed quite relaxed. Until Twilight asked him about the well. Links face darkened. 

"This well is... horrible..."

“It is just a well. You get your water out of it." 

"Yes..." Link forced a smile. "I know... it is just a well. I just... He has a dark secret which I hope will always be covered by heavy stones and water." 

This sounded really weird. But Twilight thought he remembered that Time also had an issue with wells. Or at least the one in Kakariko village. But he couldn't remember what it was. Not that he had asked Time about it. Time had a nightmare once and talked about the well and its ground. But Twilight knew he would be embarrassed knowing that Twilight heard him. So he kept quiet. But maybe he could ask Link.

"A friend mentioned that something was wrong with this well. What is it?"

"It is a bit complicated to describe... It's just... this village is built here for a reason. And the well is the entrance to..."

The rest of his sentence got lost in the noise of a loud noise, sounding like breaking stone. And then as if something heavy would roll around and collide with other things. The halo around the death mountain changed its color into a dark, menacing red-purple. Link was the first one to react.

"Look for something safe... a stone wall. As far away from the mountain as possible. And don't come out until it's been quiet for at least five minutes." 

And then, he ran away. Panic grew in the crowd as the first boulders broke parts of the wall and the gate. Warriors and Wild pulled Hyrule and Malon out of the crowd into the house nearby. Twilight followed them. He hoped, the other ones were safe, as the first boulders which broke through the gates rolled around in the village.


	6. Preparations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After helping the villagers with repairing their village, the Links need to decide how to go on from there.

"Is everyone okay?" Warriors turned around to look towards the others. "Where are the others?"

"They left to wash in the river at the bottom of the mountain.", Hyrule answered. "As long as the boulders didn't roll down all the way to the fiels of Hyrule they should be safe."

At least one good new today.

It happend without any hint. Warriors just remembered talking to a red-haired girl who looked a bit like Malon, yet different, when he heard the rumbling noise and the panicking screams of the villagers. After that,he just knew that he helped Wild, Hyrule, the girl and a few other villagers into the next house, before he saw the boulders rolling aroung the village and destroying parts of the gate and of other bouildings. But after they had stopped rolling around and no more new boulders came, they obviously could safely leave the house again. Right after the first villagers ran away to take a look at their homes, the other Heroes came throug the main gate. 

"What happended?", Legend wanted to know. "Was that an earthquake?"

"We could only see the halo around the death mountain turning dark and then we already heard the rumbling.", Four added. "We wanted to come up, but Legend said it would be safer to wait."

"Yes," Twilight who miraculously appeared next to them, smiled. "That was a good thought, Legend. There was nothing you could do and it was safer for you in the fields of Hyrule." 

Legend proudly smiled after receiving this sort of approvement. "Yes. Brilliant idea,Legend.", Warriors agreed. "And to answer you question: We don't know what happened. It all happened so quickly."

"Guys... you gonna stand there forever and have a cute little conversation or is any of you actually giong to help?", Wild called them from behind, helping a villager to move parts of the boulder out of his wall.

"Yes... sure... I'm sorry." Warriors sighed. "Anyways, guys. We talk later. Wild's right. We need to help."

———————-  
"Does this happen often?" Warriors asked the girl next to him, while they repaired the holes in a womans house. It was the red-haired girl he talked to. She shook her head. 

"Well... I don't exaktly live here, so... I'm not sure, but I heared of a few earthquakes that led to a few stones rolling down from the mountain, but... well. Not those big rocks. And there was no earthquake. Plus, the darkened halo never means something good. So, actually no." 

She nervously looked around. As she notices Warriors looking at her, she smiled. 

"I'm sorry, but I look for a friend. He looks a bit like you. And... the weird thing is, that he is also called "Link" 

"Link? The adopted son of the captain?"

"Yes... you knwo him?"

"Well...know... I met him today. Quiet boy." 

"Oh, he gets more talkactive if you become closer. When I met him, the most I heard from him was "Yes" oder "no." If I was lucky. He mostly just nodded."

She laughed. "Oh... I'm sorry. I forgot to introduce myself, once these rocks came down. I'm Malon. The daughter of Talon. He's the owner of the Lon Lon Farm." 

Malon? Oh dear. He just spent five minutes of his life flirting with Time's wive. But she started it. And, technically, Time was not here and she was a bit young for him right now. Or all of those were excuses, so he felt not as bad as he should. 

"Pleased to meet you, Malon. The people here told me about your Farm."

"Really? What did they say?"

"Well... that your milk is phenomenal, that you seem to be pretty good with dealing with all your animals. Horses, cows, chicken..."

"Oh... well... Practice. I grew up with these animals. Trust me. I spend more time with them then with actual Hylians. Isn't that sad?"

"Not, it is not. Animals are less..." Warriors looked in Wind's and Four's direction, as he heard them argue about the question if parts of these rocks would be useful for lighting a fire, which Wild, who entered the conversation, tried. "complicated.", Warriors completed his sentence while just looking in another direction.

He promised Twilight to not mind the younger Links business. As long as they didn't kill themselves, there was no need to intervene.

"So you care for all these boys?", Malon asked.

Warriors nodded. "Well. In a way at least. Twilight, Sky and me, we don't need to be taken care of, Wild mostly doesn't want to be taken care of or just by Twilight and some other friend of ours who is not here right now and the others..." 

He got interrupted because Wind, Wild and Four started to argue about their bet, if they could light a fire with the rock.

"I think it is adorable." Malon laughed. "I wished I had siblings. I mean, I have Link and my horses... but someone I can actually teach something."

"Trust me, you can't teach them anything. They won't listen."

"Come on. It can't be that bad." Malon smiled. "You made it that far."

Warriors just nodded, not metioning that it was mostly because of Time's skill to get them to do was he wanted to, just with his strict, stern look he gave them. But he was able to do that too, until they found Time again. In is usual self.

\---------------------------------------------------------

Reparations took not as long as expected, mostly because the damage was not as bad as it looked and could be completly fixed in the following days. Not, that any of the Links found sleep that night. Warriors layed in this bed, starring up to the ceiling. He didn't know what exactly kept him awake. The sudden appearance of the boulders, the things he talked about with Malon, his current situation or the coming war. He had no doubt that the boulders and the dark halo meant something bad. Something like this didn't just happen. There must have been a reason for it to happen.

"Can't sleep either?" Sky turned around in his bed to face Warriors.  
Warriors shook his head. "No... I don't know why. I just can't."  
"Probably too much in your head. I can't sleep either."

"Oh... I'm sorry." He sat up in bed and looked in Wind's direction.  
At least the youngest member of the group seemed to have found sleep. And luckily, he had a pretty deep sleep. 

"I just... I'm not sure about how to go on. The General asked me to come with him back to the castle."

"You?" Sky seemed confused. "I mean, that is great...Is that the reason he wanted to talk to you while I already left? I just... Why does he ask you to come with him?"

"Not just me... He offered me to take a few of you with me. The captain told him about my experience with battle. And he thought that Zelda might need someone like me."

"But... you can't leave us. As much as they don't want to admitt it, we need you as a leader."

"Twilight can lead in my place. Plus, I haven't even decided yet. I want to stay with you all, but... you saw it today. We run out of time. Something is happening." 

"Yeah... I know.." Sky shook his head. "Well, I thinks it would be a good idea to talk with the others. And that you sleep the night over this decision." 

"Yes... it probably is." He lied down again and closed his eyes, trying to find some sleep.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
"You want what?" Wild looked at him the same way Sky did the night before. "I don't say that I want that.", Warriors corrected him. "I just said that it was offered to me..." "If you didn't want that, then why would you even think about it?", Wild asked. "And spare me your philosophical or wanna-be-hero "the princess needs me, we can't lose the war." You just miss to be the Hero. The Champion of the princess." Warriors gave Wild an annoyed look as the boy went on and on about it. He would not let himself be provoked by Wild's comments. 

“So you don't want me to go.", he concluded Wild's ongoing rant about the offer. Wild met his gaze, and then shook his head.

"I did not say that. I just said..."

"That I was arrogant to assume that I actually could be needed?" 

"No... more like that that is not your major motivation to do it." 

Warriors didn't answer. Instead he looked at the other Links and waited for their decision. 

"What do you say."

"I acutally think that it might be good to have at least one of us to be at Zelda's side." Sky agreed with him. "So... I can only speak for myself, but I'd go."

"You can come with me, if you want.", Warriors offered. "Or... all of you."

It ended to be a heated conversation. Warriors had a bad feeling with splitting the group. They couldn't lose more members. And it was for the best if they sticked together. But Wild and Twilight wanted to stay here under every circumstance, Legend and Hyrule simply didn't care as long as a decision was made, Four and Sky didn't say anything and Wind was just Wind and didn't want aynthing.

"Okay, fine. What about this:" Legend raised his hand. "Warriors leaves with the captain to stay with Zelda at the castle, the rest of us stays here, but we stay on close touch, so we won't lose anyone."

At least that was a bit helpful. "So all of you want to stay?", Warriors asked. 

He expected it, but it felt weird to leave all of them behind, just like that. 

"I'm a village boy.",Twilight stated. "Always have been. Plus, someone needs to take care of the boys, right."

"Yeah, sure. of course." With a bitter smile, warriors nodded. "I just wanted to make sure that everyone is okay with it."

Obviously, all of them were fine. So, with a heavy heart, Warriors went to tell the General his decision. At least he seemed to be pleased with this. Wariors didn't know if he was right. He had to be right. Their whole purpose was to protect their own Zelda and Hyrule. And as long as Time was not here, Warriors had to take his place for a while. But, if that was the case, why did it feel like he was wrong? It was kand of wrong to leave to boys behind. But Warriors was sure, they were fine without him. They always complained about him leading them. So why not let them figure things out on their own. There was no reason for him to feel regret or guilt. He was not in another world, he was half a day walking away. That was not the end of the world. Or so he thought.

Yet, he couldn't help to throw a unsure look back at the village as they left the afternoon. It was clear that all the other Heros felt weird with him leaving them. But non of them wanted to show this, so Warriors let them be. It was hard enough for him. But maybe, if he spent a few days with soldiers who actually followed his orders and respected him, he would miss the disobedience of Wild or Legend's endless complaining about everything. But for now, it was goodbye. At least for him. The other boys found others tasks, as it seems, so no one was there to say goodbye.

"Warriors..." Warriors stopped as he heard Sky's voice. The boy came running to the entrance of the village Warriors was about the leave.

"I'm sorry I'm late... The others are... busy... But they surely wish you a good journey, too." 

They probably were sulking and mad at him for leaving. Still, Warriors smiled.  
"Thank you, Sky... Take care of yourself. And the others." 

"Yes.. I will." Sky smiled. "So... I assume that it is a goodbye for now."

"I'm afraid yes. But if you really need me..."

"We will tell you."

"I will come, I promise." 

"Of course you will." Sky smiled. Then, after he shortly pressed his hand, he let go. "So... don't let the princess wait, Captain. I'll see you soon." 

"Goodbye, my friend." And then, Warriors finally left, but with a better feeling.


	7. Time's memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Link, or Time, returns after disappearing at the celebration and he seems to remember a little bit about Twilight and the others

Twilight didn't think someone would actually leave the village after the sun set. The people in the village believed, that the dark halo around the death mountain meant something bad, so they thought that monsters were in the fields of Hyrule after sunset. To be honest, he was a wolf, so maybe that counted as "monster". Twilight himself didn't knew why he took his wolf form, but it was probably to explore the fields of Hyrule, the near forest and the lonely parts of the village without being bothered. Until the Hylian arrived.

At first, Twiligt didn't recognised him and wondered why the young man was not afraid. But then he took down the hood and Twilight realized it was Time. Still young, but he looked at him in a different way. "Twilight?", he asked carefully as he walked nearer to him. "Is that you?"

He remembered that he could turn into a wolf? Immediatly, Twilight sat up and turned back into his hylian form. "Yes..?"  
Time smiled happily. "I was scared that I was wrong and just... you know.. imagined all that."

"Imagined?", Twilight asked confused. "Why would you..."

"Listen, it is a bit weird, and I am not so sure about all of it, but I started to... yeah... sort of remember. It was very strange and I cannot really describe it.", Time admitted. "it is like... the thoughts kept popping up in my head. I woke up this morning and you name was in my head. And I didn't manage to get it out. And with every passing hour, I started to remember more and more. Yet... so much is still a mystery to me."

He remembered?! Twilight could not believe it. Finally. After three days, Time finally remembered them. Those were great news and he couldn't wait to tell the others more about it. But he still had so many questions.

"Time... it is alright, if I call you that, right?"

"I suppose that is my name now, so, yeah, sure." Time smiled

"Alright... I habe a question. Do you know what happened with the change of Hyrules while we were asleep?", Twilight asked. Time sighed.

"That is a very difficult thing to explain. I saw that portal coming, but before I could wake up any of you, we were already in the portal, And after that everything went sort of black and when I woke up, I lied in the forest, without any memory. I saw one of you... I think it was Hyrule, sleeping there, but, I was younger, I lost my memories and all I had in my head was my life before I met you. My father, this village... And you were sleeping strangers. So I ran away."

It almost looked like Time felt guilty. It was not his fault, Twilight thought to himself. Of course it had caused them some troubles and maybe some things would have worked differently, if Time had still been the his old self, but he was not responsible for losing his memories and becoming younger. Who knew, if the other ones would have still respected him, now that he was younger and less scary. Although he still had his deeply unimpressed looked. 

"I understand. But, still, I'm happy that you get your memories back." 

"Yes... I do... But I'm afraid I might need a little help from you sometimes... you think you can help me?" , Time admitted. 

Twilight nodded. "Yeah, sure... how?" 

"If I forget something... just tell me... If there is anything important, I'm missing... I need my memories to come back as fast as possible."

"Of course..." Twilight smiled and got up. "Let's go back to the village

\-------------------------------------------------------------------  
The others were more than happy to learn that Time started to get his memories back. It was obvious they were relieved to finally have some sort of a leader. At least almost. Time's lack of memory was not ideal, but they had no other choice but to live with it. Time was right. He needed his memory back as soon as possible.

"So, Time... where exactly did you go yesterday?", Twilight wanted to know. "Warriors told me, Malon was looking for you."

"Oh." Time smiled, slightly embarrassed. "The halo... I wanted to see if the Gorons are okay. This darkness around the death mountain means something evil. And I'm not sure, what it means."

"That is why Zelda wanted to talk to you.", Wind added. "Have you seen her yet?"

"Unfortunately, no. But I will go to her as soon as possible.", Time admitted.

"In that case you can tell us, how Warriors is doing. And if he already charmed the whole court."

TIme seemed confused. "Warriors?"  
"Yes.", Twilight nodded. "He went this morning with the General. Obviously, the General asked him to."

"Hm. I was already starting to worry about him."

"Worrying. Abot Warriors?", Sky asked confused. "Why...?"  
"I'm sorry, my fault." TIme laughed. "I meant the girls around here. I would not want to leave heartbreak and sorrow behind, if we leave."

"That would be bad.", Twilight agreed.

"He flirted with Malon yesterday!"

"WILD!!!" Twilight looked at the boy, in complete shock. That was something he did not intented to tell Time. It surely was an accident. Time did not had to know that Warriors flirtet with his future wife. So why did Wild had to tell him that? It was not important. The moment Warriors had found out, he surely regretted it. He must've known, since he talked a lot with Malon yesterday. But Time stayed surprisingly calm. However, he always was pretty good at keeping his composure.

"Did he?"

"Yes. But he did non know it was Malon and the moment he realised it, he stopped.", Twilight tried to save the situation. "Plus, it was merely a friendly talk. Everything is a bit different here."

After he said that, he remembered, that Time probably did not know of his marriage.  
"Do you know, who Malon is?"

"Yes. We are good friends."  
That was obviously a no.

"Time, you married her. She is your wife."

Time looked at him, completly shocked. 'I'm married?"

"Yes. But it is alright. We fix this. You will remember her.", Twilight tried to calm him.

Or at least himself. He, the same as all the others, liked Malon a lot and he knew for sure that it would break not only her heart, but also his heart, if Time didn't remember her. If the marriage failed because of this. Twilight didn't know, if this Time would also fall in love with Malon and marry her or if he fell in love with someone else. Zelda mentioned that they were friends, so what if Time fell in love with her instead of Malon? What if he married her? And even if he fell in love with Malon, what would happen to Time's recent wife Malon? She still would lose her husband in a way.

But that was not even the biggest problem, but more or less the result of the original problem. Twilight, as well as no other Link, had an idea, what timeline this was. It was possible that they simply left their timeline and found a new one with another hero. Maybe it was the adult timeline and Link simply asked Zelda not to send him back. But that would mean that he must still have Navi. Oder did Navi leave him here aswell? Or it was simply another hero. Because if this was supposed to be Time's timeline, they must have travelled back in time which was nearly impossible, or something else was happening that Twilight didn't understand. 

"Well... I hope so." TIme admitted. "I mean, I hope that everything turns out normal. She probably would be shocked to see me being young." 

Twilight nodded. He didn't think of that. But Time was right. 

"Yeah... probably.", Legend agreed. "But right now we're stuck here. So, you have time to age again and to remember her. Maybe, if we leave this timeline, you will have your old age back." 

"Yes. that would have his advantages. But also disadvantages.", Time answered. "Don't get me wrong, being grown-up is great. But... being young is also great. You have better movement, can fight better..." 

"Now you're acting like you're bad at fighting because of your age.", Sky Legend amused. "You're not even 35 and already complain about being old. You could fight properly if you stopped wearing that awful armor. Or... fight at all. You always let us do all the work." 

"I do?" Time seemed a bit confused. "But why?" 

"It's not like you had a chance.", Twilight admitted. "Some of us are a little....quicker to enter battle." He gave the others a strict look. They knew what he meant by that. Their rush to get into battle just to be the first one and to kill the most monsters. Sometimes Warriors and Time complained about the fact that the need to stay alive and fighting these monsters because they were a threat became sort of a competition for the younger ones. Not that Twilight disagreed. It was dangerous. But he thought that it was better to keep quiet about it, if already two other people stated that it was dangerous. Sometimes he would talk to Wild about it, when they were alone, simply because Wild sort of started all of it, but that was it. It was not necessary and didn't help, either. 

Wild gave him a look, stating that he didn't care, while all the other Links looked either ashamed or proud. "You are just too slow.", Wild joked. 

Time didn't say anything. He just looked at Wild, completly unbothered. "Well. Good to know. So I will work on being faster." 

"Like to see you try with that armor."  
\-----------------------------------------------  
It was great having TIme back. He did not react as strict as he would normally react, if one of the younger ones, especially Legend or Wild, became rude to another member of the group. But he probably just realised that his feared disappointed stare would not work as well as it did with just one eye, and older appearance and a scar. But his presence alone kept the others a bit more respectful and provided a bit more order than they had the last days. 

"Boys, I hate to disappoint you, but I think, I need some sleep now. The last few days were exhausting and I need to get to Zelda in the morning.", Time explained. "You can stay here and talk a bit but get some rest later, okay?" 

Normally, Time would force them to go to bed to be fit in the morning, but obviously this version of him knew that they didn't need to, as long as they were in the village. 

"Yes. Sure." Sky nodded. "Sleep well." 

"Thank you, Sky." Time smiled. "I see you... soon. You won't be awake when I leave." 

"Du you know when you will be back?", Hyrule wanted to know.  
Time shook his head.  
"That depends on the mission the king oder Zelda give me. I could be here tomorrow evening, but also in a week. So... I don't really know." 

"Alright. I hope you'll be back soon." 

"So do I." 

Then, he left the dining room they were all sitting in and probably headed to bed. 

After he was left, Sky looked at Twilight. "He's back, huh?" 

"Yes." Twilight did not know what to say. He was happy his mentor was back. But the fact that he seemed to remember nothing important concerning his life was really scary. He was still scared to tell Malon that her husband was at least 10 years younger than original and... anything else. 

"Warriors must have been very upset to seen him.", Legend joked, earning a few confused looks.  
"Wel... because, they both look quite similar. And Time's got this... thing about him. Like... this brooding silence and this... I don't know how to explain it. Malon once said that one feature that makes her husband so attractive is the fact that he doesn't know how handsome he his. And Warriors... well... He'd probably spend a night with himself if he could." 

"He is not THAT in love with his appearence.", Sky answered. "You always act like he is an arrogant peacock." 

"He can be." 

"With good reason.", Twilight interrupted. He didn't think it was a good idea to talk like that about their absent friend who just tried his best to save this Hyrule. "Plus, we all are sometimes." 

No one dared to argue, so Twilight changed the topic back to Time. "Do you think he can help us?" 

"It is his Hyrule. So... yeah... Hope so.", Wind said. "Would be pretty disappointing if he couldn't." 

"He surely can. We talk about the Hero of Time, not some stupid village boy loser who has no idea of the upcoming threat.", Twilight exclaimed, before getting up. He just needed air to process it all and to clear his mind. "If you'll excuse me, I need some air." 

"You want us to come with you?", Wild wanted to know. Twilight shook his head. "You don't have to. I can protect myself." 

He just left the Inn, as he heard footsteps behind him. "I feel bead to let you go alone.", WIld admitted. "Unless, you want to be alone..." 

"No, Wild. I'm good." Twilight smiled and took the boys arm. "I'm glad to be with you."


	8. At court

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warriors arrives at Zeldas court and has a talk with Zelda and meets Link, again

"Link." Zelda turned around as Warriors entered her garden. Warriors smiled apologetically at her and Impa. "I didn't mean to interrupt your conversation.", he said.

"Oh that's fine. Impa and I were just casually catching up. Plus, a lot of things we talk about, concerns you now, too.", she answered. "I assume, you decided to stay here for a while?"

"Yes, your majesty." Warriors nodded. "The General offered me to come with him. I did not know that you knew of that."

"Oh yes." Zelda smiled. "After you left, I... I sort of felt like you could be helpful. No matter if Link shows up here or not. And after what you told me about you experience in battle with another version of me, I hoped you would come... So I asked my father to send someone to the captain of the guard to make sure you and a few of your friends would come here. But I see, that you are alone."

"Yes. I apologize, princess. They prefered to stay and protect the village."

"Oh, that is alright. I could simply said all of you should come, but I assume that a bit more protection of Kakariko village can be helpful." She smiled. "Oh, and by the way, you may call me simply Zelda. It is weird to be called with this formal title by someone my age."

"As you wish, Zelda." Warriors nodded. "So... what do you want me to do?"

"Oh I need someone by my side to protect me. In a another way than Impa does. Someone, I can trust with ensuring everyone does what he is supposed to do. Especially the Genral."

"The General?", Warriors asked confused. He didn't understand ist. Zelda asked the General to come, just to keep an eye on him?

"It is a bit difficult." Zelda took his arm. "Come, walk with me and I'll explain it to you, while I show you your room. Impa?"

"Yes, Princess?" Impa nodded.  
"Go to the assembly in my place, while I show Link around. And tell me everything we missed, when I arrive."  
"Of course." Impa gave her a short smile, before leaving them.

"Impa is way more attentive than I am.", Zelda explained. "She does not miss anything. And she won't be as noticeable as me."

"So... you are not supposed to take a role in the leading and protection of your country?", Warriors asked.

Zelda shook her head. "It is not like that... My father tries to include me in all the important meetings, but he does not approve of my... idealistic way of leading the country. He thinks that I might make decisions based on dreams I think might happen in the future and that this is not the correct way of leading a country. There is no problem with that. It is just..." She sighed. "He is too... credulous. Too trusting... And I'm not sure if that is always a good thing. If we believed Ganondorf back then, Hyrule would be in chaos now."

Then she stopped herself. "Oh, forgive me. These things are just... you know... daughter-father-things. I did not mean to bother you with it."

"And you did not. I asked you.", Warriors answered. Zelda laughed.

"You should not be as polite. The people are sometimes too nice and polite to us... "

"You are their princess. And he is your father and their king."

"I know." She sighed. "but let us not argue about it. Come on, I'll show you your rooms."

\--------------------------------------------------------  
Warriors followed the princess along the hall, up the big staircase into another hallway. Everywhere along the walls, there were paintings. It remembered Warriors a bit of his own Zelda's castle. If he was not wrong, he knew a few of the paintings already. 

"Your ancestors?". he asked. 

Zelda nodded. "Yes. As far as I know. Or at least important people my ancestors wanted to be painted. For example this lady here." She pointed to a painting of lady in fine clothes. "She was my... great-grandmothers best friend. So she wanted her to be here for all eternity with her." 

"That is very sweet.", Warriors answered. "I wish my best friend would do something like this for me." 

He actually had no idea why he was saying it and whom he meant. Did he even had a "best friend"? He got along well with a lot of people. His Zelda was a good friend of him, as well as Impa. And of course, the other Links. Of course, he liked a few more than others, but that was such a small difference that he never really thought about it. Or told them. Just, when he thought about it, he realized that he would never go to Legend or Wiild he had worries or was unhappy. He would rather go to Time, probably because he was the oldest and would never truly judge him if he knew that Warriors trusted him with something important to him. And he was mature and just... He was Time. Someone Warriors looked up to. Not just because he was older and Warriors was taught to respect older people, but also because of the things he's been through.  
And of course, Sky. Sky was just kind and warm-hearted. And he tried to understand him. Talking with Sky was easy, it did not hurt and Warriors knew that the things he told either Time or Sky would never lead to all the others knowing them, too. His love to chat and gossip probably was the reason Warriors would never trust Wind when it came to keeping a secret or talk with him about emotional matters. But, apart from that, Warriors really liked the little Hero. 

"I do not want to be rude, but... What about these boys you travel around with?", Zelda asked carefully. " They are not Kings of Hyrule, but... aren't there other actions equal to that, which they would do?" 

For a moment, the conversation with Twilight popped up in his head. It meant nothing, Warriors told himself over and over, since then. Just a minor conflict in a major adventure. They all had their own minds. And they could not agree all the time about everything. Yet, something was disturbing Warriors about that. But he didn't knew himself, what was going on. Probably the fact that no one in his timelinde dared to say so. But these boys were all Heroes, not ordniary soldiers. So he should just get over it. 

"Yes... I'm sure they would. Although I hope that this won't ever be necessary.", he just answered. 

Zelda nodded, before she just took his arm and kept walking. 

"I'm so glad to hear you say that. Nothing is worse than a friendship without trust."  
\--------------------------  
His room was a comfortable, big room with a large bed and a window facing the mountains and a little lake. It remembered him of his own room back home, but a bit more luxurious. 

"I hope you like it. I just thought... you may like the mountains.", Zelda said. 

"Of course. It is beautiful. Thank you very much." Warriors smiled gratefully, before pushed his thinks on to the bed, before facing Zelda. "I... eh... what about the General now?" 

"I'm sorry, I forgot. The General.." Zelda sat down on the bed. "He always was and still is a valuable member of the army. But over the time I developped certain... doubst about his loyalties." 

"His loyalties?" 

"It is probably the worst accusation for someone like him but everytime I see him, I get a weird feeling. Like... he is looking at mit differently. Like he is planning something. I might have told you about my gift of foresight. And I just know that he is not the same man anymore. But my father won't believe me. So I asked him to hire a new member for my guard." 

"I see." Warriors nodded. "I understand your doubst, princess. And I'm very honored to be the one you ask to do it instead of your friend Link." He knew that she took him because they didn't find her Link soon enoght. Or at least he thought he knew. Because Zelda shook her head. 

"Oh... No... I might have said that wrong. This is independent from Link's arrival. I hava another job for Link. One that might be even more important for Hyrule itself that protecting me. But of course, your job is important, too. Especially for me and my family." 

"So... two different jobs?" 

"Yes exactly. Or, in a way, at least." She smiled. "So... are you okay with it?" 

"Yes...sure. Of course. As long as I am helpful."

"Good. I hoped you'd say that.", Zelda admitted. 

Their conversation was interrupted by a guard, who shyly knocked on the door. 

"Forgive me, princess... And..." He seemed confused about the proper way to address him

"This is Link...", Zelda introduced him. "A... captain of my guard..." 

She gratend him the title of a captain? That was great. Warriors could not express how great he felt. 

"Well... however.", Zelda asked. "You wanted to say something?" 

"Yes... your friend has arrived..." 

Zelda jumped up, before realizing what she was doing and obviously calmed herself. "Great. Thank you. I'll see him in the usual place. You may leave." She turned around. "You want to meet him, too?"

"I would be pleased." Warriors answered and followed Zelda, who, after she made sure no one was watching her, ran down the hallway and stairs in an incredible speed. Especially since she wore this long, heavy dress. 

\--------------------------------------------------  
"Link...you are back." They arrived in a sort of patio, where a boy with blond hair was standing. It was the boy from the village. Just as Warriors had suspected it. Link bowed before Zelda before smiling at her and returning her hug slightly. "My princess." 

"Stop it.", Zelda smiled and gave him a soft slap on the arm. "We are alone. Well, except him. But... he is one of us..." She looked a bit helpless between them. "Link, this is.. Link.", she introduced. 

Link nodded. "Yes... we met... It is... Warriors, right?" 

"Yes. Indeed. Pleased to really meet you"

Zelda seemed confused, but she did not ask futher questions. Instead she just looked at Link. "Where were you?" 

"Difficult to explain. Has something to to with the things from your dream..." 

"So you checked the temples?" 

"Yes." 

Warriors had no idea what they were talking about, but it was not his business. He simply let the two of them catch up, until Zelda asked: "Link here... I just call him Warriors too, if that is okay for him, told be about the earthquakes and the following events. Weren't you at Kakariko at that time?" 

"Yes... but as soon as I saw those boulders rolling down, I just... thought it would be a great idea to check on the Gorons and the Zoras. And... you know Ruto. She is always quite angry with me if I try to leave, so I had to stay for dinner with her father..." 

"Oh right... So she is taking that engagement thing serious?", Zelda asked. She just seemed interested and had no intent on laughing about this girl Ruto. Whoever she was. Warriors thought he heard that name, but he was not quite sure. And Link was engaged to her. So, no Malon as girlfriend. At least not right now. 

Warriors dared to ask: "I don't want to be... rude... Malon was quite worried about you."

"Oh, yes... I saw you talking to her on the celebrations." Link smiled. "I'm sorry to worry her. But she knows that I'm fine." 

"Malon...you met her?", Zelda asked. "Wasn't she absolutly adorable?"

"Yes. She was nice.", Warriors admitted. He was not sure how Link, if he really happended to be Time, reacted, if he gave further informations abot her and their conversation. 

"Yes. Malon is really special." Link smiled, before he got serious. "Anyway. You asked me to come?" 

"Indeed." Zelda nodded. "I need your help. When we were younger, you managed to get the three Spiritual Stones. And I'm afraid, we need them now. Or... we need to keep them safe from Ganondorf. If he wants those stones, he won't stop until he got them. And I don't think we should let the Kokiris, the Gorons or Zoras suffer again because of it. So, I need you to convince them to give them to you. They know you and know, that you are going to return them if they are not needed." 

She earned a weird look from Link. Warriors could not tell, if it was a bad thing or a good thing. Or what he was thinking.  
Eventually, Link nodded. "I will try my best. But it can take some time. Especially with the Zoras. Princess Ruto left for the water temple today for a ritual, so she won't be back soon." 

"I know. Let's hope we have this time. Ganondorf must not enter the sacred realm.", Zelda answered. "But for now, we luckily still have some time. Warriors friends are staying in Kakariko village to protect it. So we should not worry about this Have you met them?", she asked. 

Link smiled and nodded. "Yes... I talked with a boy named... Twilight I think. We had a chat and he told me some of their names, but unfortunately, except for a few questios about a man they were looking for, we didn't really talk. But I hope I get the chance. They all seemed pretty decent." 

"You definetly will.", Warriors answered. "I think they found you quite interesting." 

Link did not answer but his confused expression told him everything. He had no idea what was going on, obviously. But maybe, if they spend more time together, that would change. Al least Warriors hoped they would spend some time together. He did not knwo how long it would take to get the three Spiritual stones. Time mentioned it took him a few days. But he was a child then and the boy in front of him was a young adult. And Warriors assumed that Link had to be a good fighter. With that name and Zelda's trust in him. And if he really was, who Warriors thought he was. 

"Alright." Zelda let her breath escape. "I do not want to be rude now, but I think we should get inside and get the both of you something to eat and talk about how to go on from here. And wait of course for the information Impa got."


	9. an old friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warriors and Link realise they have met each other already and re-start their friendship

Link watched Zelda and Impa discuss something. Impa seemed pretty tense when she returned. Of course, Link knew that something bad must have happened, if it managed to upset Impa. But it was obviously even worse than expected. She and Zelda talked for several minutes already. Hopefully it was something he or the new boy, Warriors, could help with. The discussion of the two women obviously was a privat one. Zelda always was a bit cryptic about the things going on. Link remembered his adventures with Sheik. He understood, why she did it, but it somehow annoyed him that she never really explained anything. It was necessary to hide from Ganondorf, but even as Sheik she could have been a bit more of assistance than just teaching him a few songs, before disappearing. Maybe one or two informations more about the upcoming threat. He managed without her, but he could have been faster.

Link did not know why he thought that Warriors seemed familiar. He remembered him of a sort of "friend" he used to have. It was one of those occasions when he left his home, to look for Navi and ended up somewhere completly strange. It was not the madness and hysterical threat of Termina, but a different kind of threat. War. A real war. Not just a few monsters in a temple and an evil "monster" in the form of Ganondorf on the throne, laying waste to Hyrule, but a real war. With a lot of monsters.  
And there, he met this boy. He was around Warriors' age. Maybe younger. But he wore the same clothes as the boy. Even that scarf. But Warriors could never be him. He was a child back then. And the boy a young man.  
"May I ask you something?", he asked. Warriors nodded. 

“Yes, of course." He seemed grateful for the distraction. "What can I do for you?" 

“I noticed your clothes... And... I wondered, if you know someone. When I was younger I happened to enter a country full of war. There were monsters, fighting..." Link shook his head. Warriors knew what a war was. He did not have to explain it.  
"Anyway, I met a young man. Around your age, maybe younger. He was friends with a girl... she looked a bit like Zelda now, but... different. We became quite close, but one day, I ran away to far from him and was back here... So I wondered, if you could tell me about this scarf. He wore the same scarf..." 

It was quiet for a moment. Warriors looked at him, completely speechless. Then he smiled with tears in his eyes, if Link was not mistaken. Immediatly, Warriors wiped them away. 

“You... you remember that?" 

He did not know that this was such a big deal. 

“Yes. I do. Why shouldn't I?" 

"You were so young then. How old were you? Ten? Eleven?" 

“So you know the one I'm talking about?", Link asked a bit confused. 

Warriors nodded. "I do. Listen, it sounds crazy, but, I need you to listen to me, alright?" 

Then he started to explain something about timelines and different eras, different Heroes, being the rebirth of one another, fixing mistakes and failures of each other, and all of them travelling together. That explained, why there were eight boys, all named Link, looking for a ninth person also called Link. And why this Link was older than all the others. Because he was from a different timeline. So he managed to understand it this far.  
What confused him was the story Warriors told him about his younger self visiting Warriors Hyrule, fighting in a war with him before disappearing again. It would explain a lot but it made no sense. As far as that was possible in a world, where suddenly eight, or nine, young men arrived and all trying to fulfill one purpose. A purpose Link had already given up to fight for. 

The last time, he saved Hyrule, he got send back to a time, where he was just the same fairyless loser he grew up to be. His best friend left, another friend of his was the one to send him back to his time, to "live" the years he missed. Although Link regretted never having a childhood, he just saw to many things in his life to just go back to be a ten year old kid. He was down, at the bottom of the well, looking for the lense of truth. He fought Bongo Bongo in the shadow temple and killed Ganondorf. He was no child anymore. And after Termina and the war in Warriors timeline, he was even less a kid then before. And all of that, without being successfull in his original mission: To find Navi. 

“So... you are the one I am talking about.", he concluded. "And because of the changes of timelines, you still are that young."  
"Yes." Warriors seemed relieved. Then he sighed. "But that means you do not remember us." 

"Why would I remember you? Besides you, I have never seen any of them in my life."  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
So he really was serious. Warriors hoped that explaining all of that to the boy would wake some memories. But besides fighting with him, Link didn't seem to remember him. What if they really were in a time where none of this had happened?  
It was a selfish way of thinking, but Warriors was relieved to find out that Link at least remembered him. Maybe not as member of his group, but as a long missing friend from his youth. He grew rather fond of the boy back then and it seemed to be mutual.  
But poor Twilight. He loved Time almost like a father. Or older brother. This was not how Warriors wanted it to be. He wanted Time to be here. To remember. Even if that meant that he was younger. 

The two women kept talking and after a few minutes, Link just raised.  
"I'm going to show Warriors the training center for the guards.", he exclaimed. Zelda looked up, nodded and kept talking. Link and Warriors both were adjusted to that kind of behavior, so no one of them minded.  
\--------------------------------------------  
"So, just to be clear... You did all this since then?", Warriors asked deeply impressed. 

And here he thought he fullfilled something special to Hyrule. But of course, he was talking to the Hero of TIme, savior of Termine and maybe a bit of his own Era. Why did he had doubts about Link being something different than a good friend of the princess and one of her most trusted people at court, except Impa, of course, and her royal envoy? 

"Good thing my friends are not here.", he joked, which earned him a confused look from Link. 

"Why?", he wanteted to know. 

Warriors sighed. "You know... There is this ongoing thing between me and them, that they think that I think I am the perfect Hero, which I am not. But next to you... You didn't think it was funny, right?", Warriors asked resigned. 

Link sighed. "That's not it... I'm just confused, to be honest. Because..." Link looked at him with a bit of the seriousness in hiy eyes, Time used to have, when he talked to one of the boys in case they argued again and refused to speak to each other. It was a bit worry, a bit of him being unsure about the situation and his typical look, trying to be grown-up and to not get involved with it too much.

" I do not mean to get involved or to cause problems that are non-existent. It is just, that I grew up with a few people around me being not as nice as they could have been. And I know, what it feels like. So, what you just said sounded like a bit like that. But I am sure you are okay. They are your friends. They won't hurt you on purpose."Link added hastily. He blushed. "Please, forgive me. I was just shortly back in my childhood memories. I shouldn't have started." 

Warriors smiled. "It's okay...don't worry. If you live together as long as we do then... some minor disagreements and jokes evolve. But it is half as bad as... other things." 

That was all the information he thought Link needed. Warriors never talked about his childhood. To anyone. Maybe, if the others knew about his childhood they might understand him and his motives. He knew, that he was vain, sometimes. That was nothing new. But none of them had ever been in this position where the only thing that kept them alive was an enemy who didn't want to "waste their beauty" by killing them. 

He could tell them, of course, but he didn't trust them enough to be responsible enough to understand it. Who knew, what horrible things Wild or Legend would say in another moment of anger. Warriors always tried to have himself under control. But he didn't know how much composure he could keep if an angry or annoyed Legend brought up this part of his traumatising past. The young Time was the only one he told about it. And he did not abuse his trust. But who knew if Link still remembered it. 

"I'm sure there is.", Link murmured quietly. Then, he forced a smile. "Anyway... how do you like this Hyrule so far." 

"It is peaceful. Or, had been, at least. This is about to change, huh?", Warriors asked. 

Link smiled sadly. "I'm afraid yes. But right now, we still have a chance to keep it under control. As long as the secrets of the royal family remain secrets, Ganondorf won't become too powerful to defeat. Still, it is dangerous." 

"Yes... But now you have the help of eight other heroes who fought him; one way or another." , Warriors answered. 

Link smiled. "Good to know." Then, he grabbed his arm and led him away from the training center where they had watched the guards. "But enough of those dark things. The war has not started yet. Tell me about your adventures since we last met." 

\---------------------------------------------  
Although it felt weird for Warriors at first to talk with someone who was with them all the time during his adventure, and simply didn't knew it, about them, but he adjusted real quick to that. Possibly, because Link was and had alway been a good listener. A result of not talking for most of his life, probably. And while he was talking, Warriors completely forgot how bad he had felt this morning, leaving Kakariko village, how much he secretly missed the other ones and how weird the situation actually was. 

He was just happy to have found his friend. 

"That sounds really interesting.", Link admitted. "Although I'm not sure if I liked this way of life." 

"No?", Warriors asked, a bit confused. Time left his wife, the woman he loved at home to travel with them, just for his younger version to admit he didn't like the lifestyle? "But you travelled around a lot. Is that why you don't like it?" 

"Maybe...", Link admitted. "I think I still miss being an innocent Kokiri... I might not have had a fairy and got picked on by Mido, but I was me. And after all these events I somehow lost my sense of home. I travelled around, looking for my best friend, I fought monsters and Warriors, but right now, I want to world to stop throwing people my way I have to defeat. I'm... I'm tired." 

This last sentence remembered Warriors of the small, sad child he once was. Sitting somewhere in the command tent while Warriors and the other Generals kept discussing strategies. And whenever Warriors looked over to Link, he remembered how tired the boy must've been. But Link would never admit to be tired, unless it was really bad. He hated to admit he was tired. 

Was it the same with Time? Was he secretly tired of moving around? Fighting beasts? Would he rather prefer to be at home, and that the only threat he had to face was his angry wife if he crashed her plate? Who could blame him? But no one forced him to stay. He could leave.  
Maybe, if they ever found him again, Warriors would ask him that. 

"I know.", he murmured. "I'm tired, too, sometimes. But in these days, the world counts on us." 

"Yes... I know that. Trust me..." Link brushed his hair out of his face. "And I'm not giving up. I just pray that I might get a day off, once this is over." 

"We all do. Trust me." Warriors laughed. "I would kill if I could sleep as much as I want for a few days." 

"Forget it, Captain.", Link answered jokingly. "We Heroes never get to sleep. You should know that." 

"Yeah... that's alright. Crush my hopes.", Warriors pouted. But the other boy just laughed. 

"After the War, maybe."  
\--------------------------------------  
The bell of the Temple of Time rang in the distance. Link sighed. 

"As much as I hate to say that but I'm afraid I need to go if I want to find the Spiritual stones. And to return here in time." 

Warriors sighed on the inside. They were just starting to get along as much as they did before, of even better, but of course, none of them were here to enjoy themselves. 

"Yes. I know." He nodded. "I think I also should go back and listen to Impa's and Zelda's decision. If they are done by now." 

"Miracles can happen." Link smiled, before taking his hand into his own and gently pressed them. "Take care. and protect the princess."  
"I will. But, you should also take care of yourself.", Warriors answered. "Have a safe journey." 

"Thank you, my friend." Link smiled before taking his Ocarina and playing a certain song.  
Immediately, Epona appeared. Link mounted her and waved goodbye, as he left the castle gates. Warriors watched him leave, before returning to Zelda and Impa, who really finished discussing and told them about the things Impa found out. 

It was everything they expected. Ganondorf prepared to attack, summoning monsters and Warriors of all kind. Warriors was given a short overview of the necessary measurements, before he started the work he originally came here to do. To spy on the General and to protect Zelda.


	10. After the fight is before a new one

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The other eight Heroes were faced with an attack and now deal with the aftermath

"Whoa... That was... Something." Wild cleaned his sword while glancing towards Twilight. "Where did they come from?"

"I don't know, to be honest." Twilight moved one of the dead monsters with his foot. They remembered him of dragons. Without their wings. And they were smaller and all in all a bit more corpulent. But they spat fire nonetheless. "I don't even know what they are."

"Dodongos'" Time answered, pulling his sword out of one. "They used to live in Dodongo's cave, near Goronia. They should be extinct. Since... centuries. Ten years ago, in this timeline, at least, when Ganondorf tried to get the Goron ruby, I fought them there. but as I said, they actually are extinct. And already were back then. So them coming back is... weird." 

Twilight could only nodd. He was simply to confused. Why would creatures, extinct for centuries, simply attack this village. The cause of it seemed rather obvious. Ganonforf, as usual. It got boring after a time, knowing that Ganondorf caused almost everything bad that happened in Hyrule. One way or another, it always led back to this Gerudo with red hair. The more important question was: Why would they attack? Even if they were not controlled by Ganondorf, what were they doing down here. Normally, creatures lived in the places they lived for a reason. And Kakariko village was not exactly a dark cave. 

"So..." Sky exchanged a look with Hyrule, who healed Wind's arm, after the boy got too close to one of those Dodongos and got burned. Luckily, it was just a light burn, so a bit of rest, a bandage and a bit of fish skin would be enough. No potion needed. "Time, why did Ganondorf resurrect them the last time?", Sky asked. 

"To be honest, I don't know if they got resurrected or if a few of them just survived and came back after becoming strong. Ganondorf just blocked the entrance, as far as I know." 

"Yeah, but isn't it convenient they returned the same time as Ganondorf blocked the entrance?", Sky asked. 

Time nodded. "I admit it. Maybe he really resurrected them, to pressure the Gorons into giving him what he wanted." 

"So, why did they come down here? He does not want the ruby this time, I think. Otherwise he would not led them here." 

"Well, unless the stone is here." Time murmured. 

Twilight felt Wild's cunfused expression, as the boy said: "You told us you gave it back to the Gorons. Or did you take it with you in the time we were looking for you?"  
"No... If I remember correctly, I did not." Time shook his head. "And the last time I checked... Well, the Gorons did not complain about losing the stone." 

Maybe the attack was just a mistake by either the Dodongos or Ganondorf gave them a false order, and they should just attack Goronia. In that case, it would make sense. But it was too easy. Ganondorf rarely made mistakes. Beating him was hard and with a lot of help. So this version was wrong. They came here for a reason. But what reason? Kakariko village was just a village like every other. It had nothing Ganondorf needed. 

"A diversion, maybe.", Wild suggested. 

"From what?", Legend asked. "And why them? He could have attacked with his Warriors or... everything. Why send a bunch of chubby dragons? I mean, yeah, the fire was bad and controlling it was hard and took a while. But... if something happened, we would have known. Or heard from it." 

"Speaking of the fire." Sky sighted to the villagers, who repaired their houses. Again. As if the rolling boulders from a week ago were not enough. Living in this village obviously was never boring with all this repairing work.  
\--------------------------------------------------------------  
"You really are good at this." Sky complemented Wind. The boy who just nailed a wooden board on the roof of a house, looked up and smiled.

"Thanks. Years of experience." 

"How old are you, exactly?", Legend teased him. 

Wind pouted. "I lived on a ship. Do you even know how often it needed repairing?" 

"Because of danger or a bad captain?" 

"Just shut up." 

Before an accident could happen and one of them fell down from the roof, Twilight interrupted them. "Boys, please. I have a long day behind me. Don't get me another headache." 

It was quiet for a short amount of time, before Legend laughed. 

"Sorry, Twilight. But the cheap Time-copy does not intimidate me." 

"Yeah... but as long as were on the subject...", Four entered the talk. "Since he is younger and has no scar... Isn't he less intimidating?" 

"I don't know.", Wild answered. "Until now, he was not disappointed in me." 

"It'll come.", Legend promised. "Just wait. And then take a look at what Four says." He threw a burned board from the roof, almost hitting Wild, who catched it. 

"Twi... can you come here for a second?", he asked. 

Twilight nodded, got up and jumped down. "Yes. What's going on? Yo need me?" 

"No, well, not exactly. But there is something I want you to see." Wild pulled Twiligh away from the house, towards the mountain. "I did not mean to wander off, but one villager asked me to fetch him some of the stones and this is, what I found." 

He smiled and pointed to a Dodongo that laid outside of the walls, far away from all the others. And he was not killed by one of their weapons, but with fire. An explosion? A bomb, maybe? Twilight smiled confused. It was interesting to know that a Dodongo could be killed with fire, but what was so important, that Wild wanted to show this to him? 

Wild noticed his confusion. "I thought that this could be the reason they came down here?" 

"Fire?" 

"No... I mean, yes. Maybe. That is my question. I need your opinion. The death mountain is famous for having an active vulcano that breaks out sometimes. So maybe, both the rocks and the Dodongos were simply caused by another outbreak. But on the other hand, you heard the villagers. This happened never before and the vulcano broke out a few years ago. So they were never rocks down here. Also, this one here...", he pointed to the dead monster, "was not killed by fire or the explosion itself, but it fell, which was most likely caused by the explosion. I mean, look at that." 

Wind pulled out a little, black splinter out of the skin of the dodongo. "There. See? A bomb." 

"So?" 

"Someone tried to kill it. Either the Gorons, or someone else. Someone capable of doing that. A hylian, a Gerudo... Or at least someone else who is able to light a bomb and can think logically. Someone with a brain." 

"Yes, I get it. Someone did that intentionally. But what so you want to say? Why is this relevant?" 

"Because someone fought them up there. So this means that not only we were attacked, but also the Gorons. And they defended themselves. Or someone else did it." 

"Who? The Hylians are busy defending themselves. And I doubt that princess Zelda sent guards to protect the Gorons. They probably are way to proud for that.", Twilight answered. He remembered Time's stories, on rare occasions when he drunk to much ale and finally revealed a bit of his adventures. And one of them stated how proud each of the races were. They hardly accepted help from anyone else but themselves.  
Except the Hero of Time, of course, who was responsible to help everyone. 

But it was impossible that it was Time. He fought with them in the village. And going up to the Gorons took almost half a day, so even if Twilight didn't see him fighting, he was sure, that Time stayed with them. 

"That is exactly my point." Wild sighed. "Why would anyone except the Gorons do this? No one else beside us was attacked. And the only one that actually could help them without hurting their pride is Time. Who, probably, fought with us." 

Twilight, in desperate need of answers, shook his head. "Hylia... Wild... I am so confused right now. Time was with us. I am sure he was. Unless he warped up there and then came down later. But he would have mentioned that, wouldn't he?" 

"Yeah.. I hope so. We swore we'd always told eath other everything. He can't forget that." 

"Fine... Wild, get the others. Emergency meeting. We'll talk about this."  
\----------------------------------------------------------------  
Sky looked around. He actually had no idea what was going on. And he did not understand why it was so urgent to know what fought the Dodongos. Surely there was someone else except Time who earned the trust of the Gorons and fought for them. It was weird, especially since Time, who lived here, also had no idea, who the person could be. But was that woth an emergency meeting, when there were other, more urgent matters? 

"So... anyone any idea?", Twilight asked around. Sky shook his head. "No. But seriously, why don't we just ask the Gorons what happened? They should be able to tell us, won't they." 

"Ask the Gorons?", Time asked, visibly confused. "They won't tell us more than we already know. And in the end, why is it important, who the person was?" 

That was definetly the thought Sky also had. As long as it was not Ganondorf, there was no reason for them to intervene in the business of the Gorons. But Wild liked his idea. 

"Yeah, that sounds good. I suppose, I should go up there and ask. Time, you can come with me. They know us two." 

Time hesitated. "I'm not so sure, that this is a great idea... I should inform Zelda and Impa about the things that happened here." 

That was weird. All this time, Time used to claim how good the Gorons were to him as a child, of the brotherly bond he and Darunia had and that he always felt welcomed at Goronia, but now he refused to go up there and ask them what was going on? Whoever helped or did not help the Gorons, his friends got attacked. Why was he not worried about them? If Sky was in his position, he would be crazy worried. 

"Your friends could have been killed.", He said. "Won't you see if they're okay? I can inform Zelda on your behalf. I just write a quick message to Warriors and Zelda and it is done. Or I ride there personally." 

After a few secons, Time slowly nodded. "Yes... I forgot you met her as well. Sorry. So, okay. One of you tells Zelda about what happened and I go with Wild. Wild, how about we leave tomorrow." 

"Yes. Of course. I'll be prepared." Wild, happy about a new adventure, smiled. "When are we leaving?"

"In the morning, if we want to return with news as soon as possible. It's getting dark now.", Time answered and loosened his sword from his belt. 

Sky looked at Twilight, waiting for his response, but the boy did not show much of a reaction. 

"Fine.", Sky agreed. "I'll write Warriors and Zelda to explain to them, what happened." 

"You do that." Time nodded. "But don't make our friend worry too much. We're fine, aren't we? The soldiers have other business than to come here, only for a few Dodongos, right?"  
\------------------------------------------  
After things got settled and the evening came, Sky sat down at the Inn and wrote a letter to Warriors. He was not sure, if it was okay for the others that he decided to write their second leader and ask for his advice. But he just could not keep this to himself. The more he thought about all of this, the more he got doubts about all of this. 

It was not just Time's hesitation about visiting the Gorons, but also the fact that no one of his friends saw Time during the fight against the Dodongos. No one. Not even one of the villagers Sky asked. But a Hylian did not just disappear, just to re-appear an hour later. So where had he been. Had they been wrong and it was merely an oversight, or was something actually wrong. And then his words about not telling Warriors too much about the attack and to make sure, they were all fine.  
Yes, it was more or less just an attack, and Sky understood, that he did not want to worry their friend. But it sounded a bit like he did not want the soldiers of Zelda up here. 

Sky felt bad because he did not believe their oldest friend, but the more he heard and saw, the more he doubted his stories. There was something wrong with him. But he was not able to tell what it was. Yet, no one believed him. Twilight was too happy to have his mentor back, Wind was absent-minded as usual, Legend and Hyrule did not pay attention enough and the rest did not care.  
So hopefully, Warriors could help him.

\------------  
"Dear Warriors,  
I'm sure you enjoy your time at the castle. There is something I need to tell you. Before you start worrying: We're fine. We faced an attack of Dodongos, as Time said. Yes, he returned and claimed, that he got his memory back. At least most of it.  
But there is something wrong. I don't know what it is or why I think there is. I can't explain it in here. Not now. Not until I found out more.  
I just wanted to let you know we're fine and hopefully we continue to be so, yet in case and to be sure, I wanted to tell at least you my thoughts about it.  
If you ever need a break from being a General or captain, whatever you are, tell me.  
See you, and until hopefully soon (visit us)  
Sky "  
\------  
After finishing the letter, Sky gave it to the postman, so he would deliever it the next days. And hopefully, Warriors read it in time and replied. And if he just said that Sky was crazy and should stop dreaming. Or something else encouraging from his friend.


	11. The letter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warriors receives a letter and starts doubting his trust in Link

"Captain." 

Warriors rose from his seat as the guard appeared. At first he thought, Zelda or the General gave him new orders. That happened a lot since he arrived. And even though he did not want to admit it, but the General seemed like a decent man. He was kind and didn't do anything that made Warriors doubt his intentions. 

Yet, he was called here by Zelda herself and if Warriors learned one thing from his adventure, then that it was not wise to have doubt in Zelda's believe. In the original timeline of Time, the king did it and therefore paid with his life and Hyrule's well-being for trusting an, at least from his point of view, completly trustworthy Ganondorf.Therefore, if Zelda had a bad feeling about him, than he had no reason to not believe her. And even if she would be wrong, she was the princess so Warriors had neither the right nor the audacity to simply not follow her orders. He was supposed to keep an eye on the General, the same way as he was supposed to keep an eye on Legend and the other young members of the group. 

But he got no new orders, but a letter. 

"From Kakariko village.", the guard said

Warriors smiled and thanked him. 

Finally. News from his companions.  
Now, after being more than week away from the people he travelled with for months, Warriors actually started to miss them. Every single one of them. Even this blonde nightmare with his red strand called Legend. It was weird to change an enviroment full of disobedience, noise and sometimes even unreasonable, but then mutual disrespect for a castle full of people that followed his orders and were respectful. 

It was less exhausting to tell a guard to check the garden for a possible intruder or to get something from someone else than to have a five-minute discussion with Wild about the reason why it was necessary to wash, even if the temperature of the river was not as warm as Wild liked it. Yet, his companions were honest and Warriors felt more comfortable with them sometimes. Here, in the castle, Warriors felt like everything he said was listened to, every step he took was watched and somehow everyone kept talking behind the others behind their back. If the Links didn't like someone, they told him. If the people of the castle did not like someone, they were just backstabbing and talked bad behind his back, yet smile to his face. 

Even if he would never admitt it, he missed them.  
From the handwriting, Warriors assumed that Sky wrote the letter. He started reading, but with every sentence, he got more and more worried.  
\--------------------------  
The fact that they met Time alone was not the problematic fact. Link, of which Warriors assumed that he was Time, was away quite some time. So it was possible that he was in Kakariko village and met the boys. 

The problem was, that the Link he met claimed to have no idea who the others were, yet, the Link of which Sky spoke, seemed to remember. That would mean, that Link must've remembered during his travels. But from the last letter he wrote to Warriors, Link just mentioned that he left Kokiri Forest after making sure his friends were okay and to ensure the emerald was still there. Furthermore he expalined that he would head to the Death Mountain, to ask Darunia for the Goron Ruby. No mention of his friends. 

But the other Link of which Sky spoke also seemed quite realistic. At least enough so Twilight would sense nothing wrong about him. And he knew Time the best. Therefore, which one was the real one? Was there even a real one? 

His version of Link remembered the war, knew Epona's Song and behaved a lot like Time. And he knew the things that Warriors used to tell him about his past. Even more important, Zelda trusted him to be her friend.  
The other Link seemed to remember the others. But was that enough to give him credibility? Especially since Sky mentioned, that something was off. But Twilight believed there was nothing wrong. 

There was only one way to find out the truth. Plus, he had to report the attack on Kakariko village to Zelda, anyway. 

\-----------------------  
But Zelda already knew about it, Warriors realised, as he entered her chamber. 

"Link." She smiled sadly. "I heard about the news of Kakariko village. Are your friends okay?" 

"You know of that? I was about to...", Warriors admitted, before shaking his head. That was not important now. "Yes. My friend just wrote me a letter. They are fine. Nothing they are not used to." 

"Ah, that is good to hear. Dodongos are dangerous. And extinct. But I already had a long conversation about this with Link...The other one." 

"Link is... here?", Warriors asked, slightly shocked. He thought, that Link was with the Gorons. 

Zelda nodded. "Yes. I admitt, I was surprised, but he arrived here a few hours ago, when you were in the war room. I thought he had already met you, so I did not tell you. Why?" 

"I was just... confused.", Warriors answered, unsure if he should tell Zelda about his worries. "It's just... my friend wrote me something that made me a bit worried and confused. And it's concerning Link. In a way, at least." 

Zelda raised an eyebrow. "I see... Is there any way that I can help you?" 

"I don't know.", Warriors answered sincere. "It sounds weird, but make sure I'm still in a few hours. I don't want to alarm you falsely, but I just..." 

"You know what." Zelda laughed. "Do what you gotta do and if you're not back in two hours I come looking for you. Link is in his room."  
\---------------------  
It was dark in Link's room. Warriors was not sure if he should knock, but then he decided to do it. 

"Yes...", came a tired answer from the bed. 

"It's me.", Warriors replied. "I need to talk to you..." 

"Hm... come in." A creak from the bed and a few candles were lighted. 

Link looked terrible. He seemed very tired and there was a deep gash in his arm. In his face and on his hands, there were bruised and his tunic was singed on its hem. 

"What happened?", Warriors asked, slightly worried and took a seat next to him. Link sighed. 

"Dodongo's. Ganondorf must have known that I was going to Goronia. They came from everywhere. And then there were these disgusting bats that carried fire with them, Lizzalfos, to summarise, he gathered the animals I hate the most to keep me and the Gorons busy, so he could get the ruby." 

"Did he get the ruby?", Warriors wanted to know. 

Link shook his head and smiled softly. "No. Darunia was prepared for that. And so was I. I don't know if it was a great idea to use bombs. Did a pretty bad damage on the mountain. But it kept the Dodongos and Lizzalfos at bay and the bats... well... a few arrows and they were dealt with." 

"Did you see Ganondorf?" 

"No. Fortunatly not. I was not ready to face him. But there were enough evidence of him being behind this." Link shook his head. 

Warriors nodded, unsure of how he should start this conversation. "But... you got the stone?" 

"Yes. Though it took more than expected." He showed him his bruised hands. "But I got it. That is all that matters for the moment."

Time would have said that. Time would have thought that way. Doing everything for the greater good. Warriors needed to find the truth. Now. 

So he raised, preparing for everything. He wanted this Link to be the real one. But he also wanted his friends to be safe. If this Link was false, then he still had Zelda. Then he would still be prepared. But his friends were clueless. And trusting. He could barely imagine what he would do if something bad happended to them because of him. He never should have left them. 

"Kakariko village was attacked.", he exlaimed, waiting for Link's reaction. 

The boy nodded. "Yes... The news arrived the castle shortly before me... Are your friends okay? Or did they get hurt?" 

"No. They are fine. At least as far as I know.", Warriors answered. "But... are you sure, you don't know them?" 

Link looked at him, completly confused. "Well... I talked to Twilight... On the celebration... But, I don't know more about them then you told me. Why?" 

"Link, I hate to ask you this. And don't want to distrust you. But either my or Zeldas life, or the life of my friends is in danger. So if I treat you bad without a solid reason, I ask your forgiveness. But I need to do this. Can you give me any proof that you are who you claim to be?" 

Silence. 

"Excuse me?", Link asked, visibly confused. "How am I supposed to prove that I am who I claim to be?" 

"I don't know. Anything only you know, do, say, whatever. Something I can believe."  
\--------------  
"I... I knew about the war.", Link tried. "I used to collect masks. I have them in Kokiri forest, if you want to see them. I have a ocarina? I know Malon..." He looked at him, completly helpless after talking for at least two minutes about several reasons why he was the real Link. But besides the fact that Zelda trusted him and that he had the triforce of courage, there was nothing that nearly convinced Warriors. 

And they lost time. Time, he and his friends didn't have if one of their Links was a pretender. 

"Link... Warriors... I have no idea what you want of me. Really." Link shook his head. "Why would I lie? Why would I risk my life fighting Ganondorf's creatures if he sent me to assassinate Zelda or to spy on you...? If I wanted to earn your trust, why would I do that now? Why not the other one? Why would I bring you the ruby and not Ganondorf?" 

"Last time he tricked you into doing his dirty work, only to enter the sacred realm."

"Right. I know... Hylia..." Link tried to rise, only let a painful moan ecape and to fall back on his bed. "You don't happen to have fairy?" 

"No... why?" 

"I don't know. I used to travel with them and so I thought that maybe you had one... Doesn't matter, I look for a fairy house in the garden. Zelda has a few..." He stopped. "Or would you visit a great fairy if you were in my place?" 

A great fairy? Even Ganondorf couldn't trick these. 

"Visit a great fairy." Warriors answered, helping him up. "I'll help you there." 

"Thank you for helping a senior citizen.", Link joked about the way, Warriors held him upright.  
\-----  
"My sweet Link. Welcome. I shall heal your wounds." 

These great fairies were myth for themselves, Warriors decided. He never understood if they were just friendly or if they legitly tried to flirt with Link. 

But on the other hand, he had a very good reason to trust this Link. The great fairies were never mistaken. They would never heal one of Ganondorfs tricks. so this had to be the real one. 

Last of his doubts were eliminated, as the fairy wished him goodbye: "If you need me again, visit me or my sisters." As she said that, the Triforce symbol on his and on Links hand glowed. 

Link turned around. He was fully healed. "So... you trust me now?" 

"Yes." Warriors nodded. "I'm sorry. But I needed to make sure..." 

"That's alright. I probably did the same if my friends were in danger." Link gave him a reasuring smile. "So... what now?" 

"Now..." The realization hit Warriors hard. If this Link was real, the other one was fake. 

His friends were in danger.  
His family was in danger.


	12. Back in the village

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warriors returns to Kakariko village

"Two days." Twilight circled around the room. "Two goddamn days and still no sign of them." 

When Wild and Time did not return after the first day, he was a bit worried, but told himself that everything was probably fine. Time probably could just not find an end while catching up with Darunia. After all, they were his friends. So it got late and of course they did not want to return in the dark. Nothing Twilight did not understand or hasn't done before. 

But two days? With no sign of them? He probably overreacted, but this was strange. Even for Wild.  
Should he have gone with them? Twilight had a gut feeling that he should go with them. But he shook it off. Time was their original leader and it was nothing he needed to stay with them. Just a short talk with the Gorons. And he did not want to leave Sky in charge for the other chaotic Heroes. 

Now, Twilight understood Warriors. It was exhausting to make sure everyone did what they were supposed to do, without anyone getting badly hurt. And not all of them were Hyrule who would just wander off to somewhere and returned later on. Some of them needed create chaos. Intended or not. That Time was now younger and less intimidating without the markings and the scar did not help. 

"Twi, it is hard, I know that." Sky looked worried. "But you need to calm down. They're probably fine."  
It was obvious he did not believe himself. 

"I won't. Two of our friends are out there and have not returned yet and you tell me to calm down?!" 

"I did not mean to anger you.", Sky raised his hands. "I only meant for us to calm down so we can think about a solution. Mindless swearing and making ourselves crazy never helped anyone. We need a plan. Or... to think about where they could be." 

"They could be dead. Who knows how many monsters are still up there." Four, as always, said what came first to his mind. Which was anything but helpful. 

"Wow. Thank you Four, for those encouraging words. I can almost feel the spirits of our companions being lifted by your warm words. Really."  
Who would have guessed that Warriors biting sarcasm would be lifted to another level in almost two weeks at the castle. 

\-----------------  
"You're back." Legend was the first to speak. "It seems last time, we were not unpleasant enough." 

"Oh I'm glad to see you, too, Legend." Warriors rolled his eyes. 

Sky was the first one to actually move and hug their friend. "You are back. Did you get my letter?" 

"Yes. Of course. That is why I am here." Warriors smiled. 

After Sky let go of him, he turned to Twilight. "I see you did a good job in my absence. Everyone is alive." 

"Yeah, well... No. Wild and Time disappeared." Twilight sighed. "Sky told you that Time is back, gaining more and more memories?" 

He saw Sky's mouth open to protest. In the last few days, Sky told him on several occasions that something was wrong with Time. And the longer Wild and Time were away, the more he regretted not to think about his words. So much could happen. But he did not dare to question his mentor. He seemed so... perfect. Everything seemed to perfect. The thought of fixing everything was all that that used to be in his mind. And maybe that was the mistake. Maybe he should've been more careful around this boy. 

"Yes, well Sky told me about a boy pretending to be Time.", Warriors answered. "So, where is this boy. And where is Wild?" 

So the boys told Warriors about the events of the last week, the attack of the Dodongo's, Time's unsuspicious behaviour and the of Wild and Time to ask the Gorons about the Dodongo's and the attack. 

Warriors listened to them, waiting for everything to be told. Then, he sat down. 

"We are in deep trouble, you know... Like... deep deep.", he exclaimed. "May Hylia help us." He shook his head. "I shouldn't have left you." 

"So you realise that now, Genius?" Legend shook his head, before looking at Warrriors with anger in his eyes "I always knew you saw us as a way back to glory. But you leaving us like that on the first occasion surprised me a bit. I thought you'd at least thnik of a suitable excuse." 

Twilight looked at him, in pure shock. He knew Legend was mad at Warriors for leaving and the two of them never shared an opinon about anything. But this much anger surprised him. 

"Legend... Warriors just tried to...", Sky tried, but was interrupted. 

"you shut up.", Legend hissed. "Don't take his side. Any of you. We fought Monsters while he probably spent every night with another girl in his comfortable bed, promenading along side the princess and inspecting the troups. He abandoned us for a better life." 

"That is not true, and you know that.", Warriors answered, surprisingly calm. "I did, what the princess ordered me to do. And if you could stop yelling at me, I could explain myself a bit more clearer." 

Unfortunately, him being calm made Legend even more angry. "Oh... what a Hero. The Princess. She just wants you by her side, because her actual Hero looks a bit like you and prefers staying here with us. Or... whatever he does now. Warriors, wake up. Your time is over. You are no beloved champion any more. You will be forgotten. Just like Time did." 

"Legends.", Twilight tried to interfere. "It is enough now. He is back now..." 

"He can just leave now. Right through this door. And just for your information, Captain.", Legend looked directly into Warriors eyes, spitting out his title like and insult. "  
Everyone here thinks like me. They just don't want to admitt ist, now that Time is away and Twilight is too busy worrying about Wild, because they rather prefer a bad leader over no leader at all. But trust me. They all do. Even Time. He told me himself how glad he was, that you were away. He always called you a burden with your blasé attitude and your bratty behaviour." 

"Legend, I do not think that this is appropriate now.", Twilight answered. "Warriors came back because we need him. Just like he promised. So everyone relaxes now." He really tried not to let this escalate.  
\--  
After a moment of silence, Sky cleared his throat. "So. What are we gonna do now?" 

"I don't know. We could go look for them.", Wind proposed. 

Warriors shook his head. "I don't think that this is a great idea. First of all, if we walk away from here we might lose one another, and there is something else, I need to talk to you about. While I was with Zelda..." 

"See? He start's again." Legend threw his hands in the air. "Zelda, Zelda, Zelda... Hero, Hero,Hero..." 

"LEGENDS!" Twilight rose from his seat. His nerve were already tense, but this hissing and bitching from his crewmate, the awkward silence of the others and the lack of progress was more than enough for him. "That is enough. I will go up the death mountain to look for them. You all stay here." 

"No Twilight, you don't understand.." Warriors pleading was interrupted by Twilight. 

"I made my decision. I can take care of myself. And Wild trusts me the most." Without further listening, he left the Inn. 

\----  
Being away cleared his head. 

He just did not understand, why Legend completly lost it today. And why would Time say something like that to him? He was always rather fond of Warriors, wasn't he? Warriors had his weaknesses, and his behaviour sometimes clearly was one of them. But he was still their friend and saved them with the same courage as they all carried.  
Maybe Legend was sulking because Warriors went away.  
No. That was not the reaction of someone who missed the other person. 

But that was not important now. He needed to find Wild and Time. Twilight hoped so much that Sky was just wrong about him. He behaved weird before they left, yes. But it also was a weird situation for him, being young, the same age as the boys he usually treated like his children. Maybe it was that. 

Why did they always had to see evil behind everything? Probably, because their life was their life because of the evil they faced. The evil, they were forced to see in everything. Because it was necessary to survive. 

But Time was not evil. He was one of the most selfless people he knew. And he loved them. 

"Twilight?" 

A soft voice pulled him out of his thoughts. On the way, there was a man, his age. Time? 

"Twilight, is that you?" 

It was Time. Twilight carefully went towards him. "What are you doing? Why are you here? And not with us? And where is Wild?" 

"I'm sorry." Time shook his head. "Wild got hurt by a falling rock. I tried carrying him, but it was too heavy... I stayed with him, until he recovered... But we agreed now that I would get one or two of you to help us, or at least tell you, we are fine..." 

So they were, more or less, fine? Twilight could not express his relief. 

"Were is Wild? We can carry him together." 

"Yes. That's the idea... He is a few hundred meters away from here. Follow me." 

Time took his arm und pulled him up the mountain. It was so good to see him well. If he ignored the cut in his cheek. But as a Hero, they survived worse than that. 

"Did the Gorons tell you, what was going on?" 

" Yes. They fought the monsters with bombs. That is what Wild saw." 

An easy explanation for the death of the monster. They could have thought about this before. 

They entered a little cave. 

"We are back.", Time yelled. No answer. Maybe Wild slept. 

"I need to light this stick... Go ahead. He is right there." Time pointed to the back of the cave. 

Twilight nodded and took a few steps. Then he felt it. He could not describe it or what the cause was. It was just an odd feeling. A force trying to pull you inside, the same as the urge to flee. Why did Wild not answer? He did not sleep that deep. 

"Time?" 

"Hm?" 

" I don't see him." Twilight turned around, only to not see Time anymore. Where was he? 

"Of course not. Wild is smart.", Time answered. "But you'll see him. Just let me light this..." 

Whatever he did, a bright flash flashed through the cave, lighting up everything for a second, only for Twilight to see a few women lurking in the dark. Gerudos.  
Then, he felt every muscle of his body giving up under his weigh. 

"I must admitt that I imagined it to be less difficult. You guys put a pretty good fight, even for someone like me that you trust. But, were Heroes after all, am I not right, Wolfie?" Time gave him a cold smile, as he touched his face. Twilight tried to escape, but his body did not obey. 

"Why... are you even...?" 

"Stupid boy. What do you think?" He pulled up his head and forced Twilight to look into his red eyes. "My master will be so pleased to finally meet you again. Gave him quite the headache last time." 

Then, everything went black.


End file.
